


Atropos

by ginafics



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Character Death, Heavy Angst, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22034326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginafics/pseuds/ginafics
Summary: Atropos(/ˈætrəpɒs/; Ἄτροπος)It was Atropos who chose the mechanism of death and ended the life of mortals by cutting their threads.-------------------------------When Kun asked him to take over the newly brought in corpse, Renjun had been elated. However, the happy tingles turned into a cold block of ice the second Renjun opened the cover of the body.Lee Jeno
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan
Comments: 39
Kudos: 94
Collections: ’00 FIC FEST: ROUND ONE





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #0014
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't know how the police station dynamics and the step by step of solving a case, please forgive me
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: there's blood and injuries through out the story, depiction of suicide (not detailed), panic attack(s), Character Death(s).
> 
> I hope you all read the tags before going into this story. Remember, your safety matters the most to me.
> 
> Now without further adieu, I hope you enjoy! ♡

Donghyuck had always thought that it would always be him and his mother. His father was never in the picture from the start. It had always been the two of them—two forces to be reckoned with, two forces against the world—Donghyuck and his mother. His mother and Donghyuck. Until one day, it wasn’t. Until one day, two forces became half a force that kept trying to not be snuffed out by the world.

Donghyuck lost his mother when he was 7 years old—old enough to understand death, old enough to process emotional pain. It was a rather harsh encounter, something Donghyuck could never forget. It was a school night, but oddly, they were going out to have an unhealthy dinner. His mother would indulge him sometimes—as long as he finished his homework, she had said when Donghyuck asked for a milkshake. They both had a good night out. His mother had bought him vanilla milkshake and french fries for dinner, instead of forcing him to eat their usual rice, meat, and vegetables menu. They even went to the nearby park right after—now when he remembers that moment, he thinks he shouldn’t have asked to go to the park.

It happened on their way back. They were walking because the diner and the park were just a few blocks away from their home. The street was absolutely devoid of traffic and people, and his mother was showing him the beautiful summer sky littered with thousands of twinkling stars. He remembered thinking how beautiful it would be if he could pluck one for his mother—just a 7 year old boy filled with pure wonder and innocent mistakes. Mistakes that cost him his mother’s life, because he was supposed to see the bright headlights coming, because he was supposed to hear the distant low whirring of tires against the cold asphalt. Instead he was entranced by the stars—and also by the tall figure in a long black coat who was shooting them pitiful gaze. As if he knew something Hyuck didn’t. As if he was waiting for something Hyuck couldn’t see.

Drunk driver. A high pitched screech came from behind them and the feeling of impending doom quickly blanketed the night. There was a bang of two—perhaps three—objects colliding and a sudden coldness from where his hand was no longer being held. There was a nauseating cracking sound and a stench of car exhaust, and Hyuck knew he shouldn’t see—he should close his eyes tight, or hide his face in his palms or something—but he was frozen, absolutely still and forced to drink in the view right in front of him. The front part of the car was wrecked with the impact from hitting the wall so hard. There were three unconscious people inside, Hyuck’s attention was fleeting and frantic because it was red—inside, outside, right on the front window, seeping into the dark asphalt, and he had wanted to vomit but he couldn’t move. His mother was there somewhere between the wall and the car, he didn’t even want to know, he had just wanted to gain control of his body, and then—

—and then what? Cry? Scream? Run? He didn’t know. He didn’t know anything besides that everything was red and that he couldn’t stop the cracking sound replaying over and over in his brain. And then it was dark, and warm, and wet—perhaps he had been crying without him knowing. There were palms over his eyes, big palms that covered his eyes from seeing anything else. He would chuckle if he could because, honestly, it did nothing, for the picture was already embedded in his brain.

“I’m sorry.” The voice had been cold, but Hyuck wasn’t afraid—his palms were warm enough to make up for his cold voice. The tone in his voice is even warmer than his palms. “I’m sorry you have to be here today." But then the palms were gone and Hyuck was turned around before he could even open his eyes. Oh, it was the tall man with the long black coat he saw before. His face was warm and open and _sad_.

“Is this what you have been waiting for before, Mister? You were looking at us with a strange look.” Hyuck’s voice sounded hollow in the dead night.

“Yes. I was scheduled to pick up the spirits of those who will die in the car crash. How can you see me?” There was an incredulous tone underlying the tall man’s last sentence.

“Should I not be able to? And by spirit, do you mean ghost?” The wonder and curiosity that was usually apparent in Hyuck’s voice could be heard, even though the usual glint in his eyes was missing. The tall man frowned.

“Well, I’m the Grim Reaper, of course you should not be able to see me. And they’re not ghosts,” it had sounded like a lecture at that time, Hyuck chuckles everytime he remembered the _matter of fact_ tone in the Grim Reaper’s voice. Imagine being lectured by a grim reaper. “A ghost is a spirit that refused to move on to their next life. A spirit is just… the soul of a person, and I collect the soul when the human body is no longer capable of hosting it.”

“Wow. Are you here to collect my mother’s spirit, then?”

“Yes, and the three other men.” The Reaper sounded grim and Hyuck’s face fell at the mention of his mother’s murderer.

“Mister—”

“My name’s Johnny.”

“—Johnny-ssi,”

“You can just call me Hyung, I think we’ll see each other a lot more in the future.” Hyuck _tsked_ and glared pointedly at the Grim Reaper. Johnny laughed because no one had ever glared at him before, and now he got a glare from a seven year old boy.

“Grim Reaper-ssi.” Hyuck said pointedly, “do you think I can see my mother's spirit?" Johnny hesitated visibly at that.

“Well, that would be a real privilege, which is unfair for those who can’t see their loved ones’ spirits when they pass away.”

“But not every single one of them is a seven year old boy who can see the Grim Reaper either.” Hyuck sulked and pouted, and Johnny _knew_ the kid knew what he was doing.

“True that. Okay, how about we make a deal. If you can see your mother’s spirit when I collect her, then I’ll allow you to say goodbye.” Hyuck grinned at that—a sweet toothy grin that didn’t manage to hide the glint of grief in his dark orbs.

“Deal.”

At the end of the night, Hyuck found that he could see Grim Reapers and also dead human spirits. He met his mother’s spirit and said a tearful goodbye filled with apologies because she thought she had failed as a mother, with overflowing concerns of Hyuck’s well being for the future, and with Hyuck promising to be someone his mother will be proud of. There was a promise of waiting for each other, a promise of telling stories when they met again someday, a promise of love and home even in the afterlife. Johnny had asked Hyuck to wait for a few minutes before vanishing into thin air, and returning alone. He accompanied Hyuck to walk to the nearest police station while exchanging stories and answering Donghyuck’s curious questions of his work field. Hyuck had managed to force the Grim Reaper to give him a piggyback halfway to the police and he grinned again in accomplishment, though the sad glint never vanished. Johnny waited beside Hyuck until the police could get all the details of the car crash. Johnny waited until Hyuck’s other relatives could be contacted to take Hyuck for the night, or even better, for the rest of his life. Johnny waited and let Hyuck sleep on his shoulder until they arrived at his uncle's home.

Ever since then, Hyuck was taken in by his uncle's family. It was nice to be surrounded by family after the incident that happened. Hyuck's older cousin was ready to be the stone wall he needed to lean on. Taeyong had always been a kind person. It didn't work, though. Whatever warm welcome, warm breakfast, and even warmer hugs they gave him didn't work. Hyuck was plagued with nightmares and he was absolutely miserable at school. It was Taeyong who proposed moving to another city, saying that perhaps getting out of the city where the trauma took place would be the best thing for Hyuck at that time. Taeyong was the one who convinced his father to let Hyuck live with him in the new city where he was offered a new job. Taking care of Hyuck and helping him to adapt to the new surroundings would be easy peasy since he was still a training employee for about six months. And so Hyuck's uncle agreed on letting them move since the city was just an hour away from their current city by car. The school and living fees would be given and regulated by Taeyong, which Hyuck didn't really care about. He just wanted to stop getting bad dreams whenever he closed his eyes at night and do good at school again. He had promised his mother after all.

And so they moved to Balisewood, a much smaller town with a population of only more or less 24.000 people, where it was always cloudy but rarely rains. The new city was both scary but comforting at the same time. The consistent grey clouds, surprisingly, gave him a lot of comfort because for once it felt like the world agreed with the state of his heart. Cloudy skies meant that he didn’t have to see any stars all day and night. Cloudy skies meant that no one in school knew about Hyuck’s clandestine turmoil, and Hyuck knew the city had its own secrets—like how Johnny always visits him after a rainy day, how there will always be a news of death on TV after a rainy day, a pattern he quickly picked up after three months of living in this town. He took comfort in that, in imagining the way the city and him kept each other's secrets safely. And Taeyong was right, because after a year or two, the city did heal Donghyuck, letting him transform into the adult that he is right now, someone who managed to master the art of balance between childish delight and solemn maturity.

Now at the age of 22, fresh out of college, he feels like he’s finally ready to unravel his city’s secret, while also baring his soul as an offering by diving right into the homicide department with the police force. If the city would have him as a protector, then he’d gladly serve in bringing justice to those who run with blood on their hands under the rain.


	2. The Ripped Soul

It is a good morning, in Donghyuck’s perspective, to have his daily morning run. The sun is hidden between the clouds and the breeze is relentless in tousling his hair into a state of disarray. There are some random RnB songs blasting in his eardrums as his shoes slap the hard concrete of the park. There’s a mysterious pull that draws him to spend his morning run in the furthest park from Taeyong’s house—something that always lures Donghyuck in because he could never back down from the city’s invitation for a new case. After all, it was raining heavily last night. Hyuck is almost 90% sure there would be a new big case for his department today.

“Morning, Hyuck!” The way Hyuck almost trips on his own feet as the familiar voice surprised him. Johnny only chuckles, “Careful, little one.”

“Stop appearing out of thin air like that!” There’s a pout forming on the young detective’s face as he whines.

“I’m hurt that you didn’t expect my visit!” Johnny imitates his pout and it can almost— _ almost _ —rival Hyuck’s. Being a close friend of the boy after years has taught him how to create a pout and puppy eyes that can force anyone into submission.

“There was a thunderstorm last night, how could I not expect you?” There’s an innocent smile plastered onto the heart-shaped lips and twinkling eyes that are brimming with fondness. “So where’s the body?” 

“By the lake. You better take care of it before anyone can cause a scene.” Johnny returns the smile playfully. Hyuck immediately sends his location to Moon Taeil, a senior detective and also his supervisor until Hyuck is promoted. Life loves to play with him, though, because an ear splitting scream can be heard right after Hyuck clicks send. His feet jump into action, immediately running to the source of the scream and leaving his brain to process the rest of the situation he’s currently in. Taeil had always scolded him for his carelessness. He stops near the lake, where a small group of people have already gathered around, trying to regulate his breathing. A few phones are already up in the air, ready to capture anything that might be a source of viral news. Hyuck pulls out his badge and disperses the crowd revealing a shaking and pale woman, probably in her mid thirties, who has her arms around a wet sobbing young girl. They’re clearly in shock, so Hyuck’s best guess is that they had seen the body and proceeded with caution.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” The mother turns to look at Hyuck in one swift move—her face is pale, her eyes are as wide as saucers, her shoulders tremble so hard. “Ma’am, can you tell me what you see?” The woman only points her forefinger to the black lump that is floating in the middle of the lake. Hyuck can see the tremor only worsened when her eyes go back to the floating body.

“My child… she was just playing in the water when it… arose out of nowhere. She managed to turn it around, and… and…” The shaking only gets worse as she trails off. Hyuck gets the gist.

“Ma’am, please wait here until the paramedics come.” He hastily says while simultaneously taking off his shoes and socks before diving in. There’s a stab of coldness that grip his lungs and weakens the stroke of his limbs as he tries to swim as quickly as possible to reach the floating body. He pulls the body—a  _ him _ —back carefully to dry land before the water can erase anymore evidence from the body. Once he reaches dry grass, he realizes how Taeil has managed to bring paramedics and other officers to his rescue. There are gloved hands that help Hyuck haul the body to an empty area near the lake, and also to help him get out of the water. A paramedic immediately wraps a blanket around his shoulders and Taeil forces a paper cup of warm chocolate into his hands.

“Chocolate?” he looks at Taeil in wonder as he sniffs his cup deeply. The warmth has started to bleed into his palms. “Thank you,” Hyuck says as his teeth chatter and body shivers. The cold and the sudden fatigue are suddenly hitting him hard. However, the strange empty feeling in the pit of his stomach that blooms when he touched the body still hasn't left him. Hyuck tries to look for Johnny just to seek for a validation that this odd feeling is not just a glitch. Hyuck is certain that the body he just found is strange not only because of the growing feeling of emptiness in his stomach, but also because Hyuck can’t see any spirit waiting for the Grim Reaper.

“What happened to you?” Hyuck mutters out loud to stop his brain from getting frustrated over unsaid questions. He looks at the body closely to perhaps identify a thing or two about his death. Despite the blotching of his skin because of the water, Hyuck can see a sharp jawline and high cheekbones. The hair underneath all the lump of dirt from the lake’s floor is actually a very bright blond—almost a gorgeous shade of platinum. His body, Donghyuck realizes belatedly, is in an expensive office suit. Hyuck guesses that the man was in his mid twenties—perhaps even in the same age as Donghyuck, judging from his appearance. Below every facade of death and being drowned, Donghyuck thinks that the guy would look very attractive—except for the jagged harsh gash on his neck. A stab to the jugular, deadly when made with incredible carelessness that ruins the inner jugular.

“There’s no ID Card or wallet or anything to identify the body, Taeil-ssi.” one of the officers that has been busy searching the body finally comes up to Taeil. Taeil’s frown now has matched Hyuck’s.

“Judging from his state, I would say he’d been in the water for three until four days. Perhaps we could search in the missing people log?” Hyuck suggests.

“Yeah of course, but I bet the coroner department would beat us.” Taeil grins, probably happy because there is one less thing he doesn’t need to add into his stack of workload. “Send the body to the coroner department immediately.” Taeil then says to the other officer.

“So we’re done here?”

“Yeah, we better go to the office and warm you up before you get sick. This might just be a random case of robbery gone wrong, and if that’s what this is, I want you to take over the case.” Hyuck looks at Taeil with incredulous disbelief.

“Me?”

“Yeah, your first official case. Please don’t fuck it up.” Taeil says, half joking half begging.

“Hyung, you know me. I am a professional.” The younger brag playfully, but Taeil can see the gratefulness shining out from his grin.

“Professional, my ass, you just forgot your shoes and socks by the lake, fool.” Hyuck’s eyes widen in realization while his toes are wriggling on the soft grass, before grinning bashfully and saluting Taeil away.

“Sorry! I’ll catch you by the office!”

* * *

By the time Hyuck reached the large body of water, Johnny had been waiting for him. The tall guy was sitting beside where the corpse was laid down on the grass before. The frown on his face is as deep as it can get.

“Yo,” Hyuck says without any enthusiasm. His brain is muddled by hundreds of questions. For once, Johnny needs to look up to see Hyuck’s face. “So you’re done delivering the corpse’s soul?”

“No,” Johnny shrugs.

“So... he really has no soul?”

“Well, it’s bad when you put it like that. It’s not that he doesn’t have a soul per se; every human, even the most vile of them, has a soul.”

Hyuck looks back at the lake, trying to place the strange and uneasiness that is creeping up his guts. “I can’t see anyone though. I can’t  _ feel  _ anyone. There’s just a heavy emptiness that grows in the pit of my stomach.”

Johnny sighs, “The deal with the human soul is that it needs energy to become corporeal, well at least to those like me or the angels or to people like you, I guess. And most of this energy is absorbed from their previous life. Any emotions that stay with you when you die, whether it’s grief, regret, guilt, anger, sadness, even happiness or contentment, will become a source of energy for your soul. Small enough to let them speak with me and attend to their wrongdoings in their life, but not large enough to have contact with any humans in any form.”

“So… you’re saying that he’s not… corporeal enough to show up even to you?” Hyuck looks at Johnny incredulously.

“Sometimes they are fed with too much negative energy and become evil spirits or poltergeists. I never see one in my time of service to the Big Man up there, but perhaps once in a blue moon there will be some that don’t have any energy to absorb from their previous life.” Hyuck can’t even describe what kind of expression Johnny is currently sporting. There’s a depth of sadness within his honey-brown orbs.

“How empty can you feel in your life to not even feel anything after you die…” Hyuck whispers—his voice is heavy, and the emptiness in his lower abdomen only grows heavier. There’s a clench of pity that grips his chest tightly. “Then… if you can’t see him…”

Johnny nods at Hyuck. “I won’t be able to deliver him to his next life. There’s no more chances of forgiveness for him.”

“That’s awful.”

“Yeah, but we can’t do anything else. So yeah, hey poor soul, if you’re still here and you hear this, please try to collect as much energy as you can from your previous life. It might be painful, but it’s the only way I can help you.” Johnny says the last sentence in his most calmest voice, the one Hyuck always hears him use whenever the soul is scared or unaware that they’re already dead. He holds his breath and waits for a couple of heartbeats—perhaps for a sign, a sudden rustling of leaves or a sudden blow of wind—his heart falls when nothing happens.

“Poor young soul. Well, he has 40 days on Earth, if he stays longer than that then he won’t be able to go up at all.” Johnny says before putting his hand on Hyuck’s shoulder. “Don’t think about it too much, Hyuck. I’m the one with the job of collecting souls, you have enough stress as it is to solve this case.” He winks. “Congratulations on your first case.”

“Thank you, Hyung. Then I’ll get back to the office, if the man’s soul eventually comes to you, let me know.”

“I will.” At that moment the leaves rustle, the water ripples, and the breeze blows as if nothing bizarre has happened—as if the city didn’t just lose another child in the depth of its lake—and perhaps nothing is actually lost, for humans are dust, and to dust they shall return. And so The Earth keeps turning, and Time keeps ticking, and so Life keeps moving.


	3. Atropos

Renjun should have been able to guess that today won’t be a good day. Starting from when he bought his coffee this morning and the barista gave him a long black instead of his usual cafe latte to when he almost got run over by a motorcycle when crossing the street to his office. However, Renjun being Renjun had never let a few bumps so early in the morning to affect him badly. He still entered the office door with a cheery smile and even a cheerier  _ good morning  _ to Sicheng. In the couple of years of learning the ropes to be a pathologist/coroner in the coroner department of Balisewood, he had learnt about the importance of having a positive mindset to keep himself sane. Being surrounded by corpses is never an ideal situation for any human  _ ever _ —unless you’re Ten who basically views dissecting corpses as a personal interest. Today is a bad day, though, he should have accepted his fate earlier. He just never knew that it would be this bad.

When Kun asked him to take over the newly brought in corpse, Renjun had been elated. Kun had started to give him easy cases where he is deemed capable to both dissect and make a perfect judgement and report without any supervision, and Renjun takes pride in that. He’s been in the department for less than two years and already gets to do his own cases; he’s one of the fastest interns to be able to do that—Jungwoo hyung received his first case during his 11th month as an intern, but it’s okay because Jungwoo is basically Ten’s legacy. They’re scary around corpses. However, the happy tingles turned into a cold block of ice the second Renjun opened the cover of the body.

_ Lee Jeno _ —

—no, there’s no way this is Lee Jeno. Renjun tries to get a grip on his surroundings. Kun has sent him inside without a single file of this person’s identity, saying that he’ll check how accurate Renjun’s guesses of the corpse’s cause of injuries with the details from the homicide department. He tries to look closer at the corpse’s face. It’s blotchy and pale as fuck, but beneath all of that Renjun can see the familiar lines of Jeno’s strong cheekbones and jaws. There’s no way this is not Lee Jeno—he looks so much more mature, but even now his closed eyes almost still reflected the usual crescent eyes he used to have. The last Renjun saw him was when he was invited to Jeno’s graduation party. He was happy.

_ Drowned _ is Renjun’s first thought when he saw the body. The blotchy skin all over the body is a common after effect when a corpse is underwater for days— _ three _ if Renjun’s guess is correct—since the skin is not yet rotten, but the gasses from rotting organs have accumulated under the skin, helping the corpse to actually float to the water surface. There’s something nagging him, though. Something that makes him look closer at the almost unidentifiable face—bruises. There are bruises under his left eye and on the corner of his lips. Renjun’s eyes travel to the small cut at Jeno’s left temple, and then further down to the almost hidden jagged wound at his neck. Intentional and oh so absolutely reckless—a cut that is meant to kill, only worsen by the visible effect of a struggle to fight back.

_ God _ , he has never wanted to puke this bad. He slowly moves his trembling fingers to touch the corpse of his friend. He has his hypothesis already, but touching the corpse will solidify it and Renjun’s not sure that he’s ready to relive the past 30 seconds of Jeno’s life. Sometimes he hates his ability.  _ Please be a robbery case gone wrong _ is chanted over and over in his head, as he takes a deep breath and put his palm on Jeno’s forehead.

The memory that immediately infiltrates his brain is painful, both for Jeno and Renjun. The only emotion he could pick up from the memory is how painful it is, but everything is dark. Jeno’s eyes had been closed at his last moment, Renjun realizes, because he can only feel the onslaught of pain from Jeno’s entire body. There’s a frantic voice somewhere far enough from him that’s currently begging for a person to stop.

_ “This is wrong, please, why are we even doing this? Please, please stop, he still has so much he can live for! No one told me it will come down to this, please don’t do this...” _

_ “SHUT UP!”  _ Renjun flinches at how loud and close the other person’s voice is.  _ “Shut up or you’re next.”  _ The silence that ensues after that is deafening. There are whimpers spilling from Jeno’s lips. Renjun can feel the tears streaming down his friend’s face—or is it his? He doesn’t know anymore at this point.

_ “Night night, Lee Jeno.”  _ and then there are several things that happened together after that. There’s a blinding pain in Jeno’s neck—Renjun’s guessing that’s the moment his jugular is cut open—and then suddenly Renjun can see everything. Jeno’s eyes were not closed, they were blindfolded. There’s a young crying man in front of Jeno, Renjun is not really sure what the man is doing to his friend until there’s another blinding pain coming from his neck. The knife is pulled out—a big mistake, because then the blood can pour freely out.

_ “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Jeno, I’m so sorry.”  _ the man—the same voice from the one who was begging earlier—keeps chanting. The man’s entire being is trembling while trying to help Jeno, but there’s only unfamiliar coldness that seeped through Jeno’s chest—as if it was supposed to be something else, used to be something else. Then Renjun feels it—hears it?—he’s not sure. There’s something that snapped somewhere both very close and far, something that sounds—feels—oddly like a strained thread being cut off or being strained too much it snapped. Renjun blinks slowly before the light-headedness hits him full force. His knees buckle and he embraces his fate to collide with the cold floor of the mortuary. Instead the fall never comes, replaced by a pair of strong arms that caught his midsection, cushioning his fall with a strong body.

“Don’t worry, I got you.” The soft voice infiltrates his mind, letting itself known.

“Kun-ge?”

“I got you.” The older man keeps saying as Renjun can feel he’s being brought up to sit in one of the empty cold beds for another corpse. Renjun’s head lolls forward to rest on Kun’s right shoulder while there are gentle fingers stroking his hair. “Breathe, Renjun. Follow the movement of my shoulder.” Only then the smaller man can feel the tight pressure on his chest—can hear the small choking sounds that come from his own throat. He forces himself to get a grip on his surroundings and relax, breathing along with the pattern Kun has given him. 

“Are you okay?” Kun finally asks once Renjun seems more stable, and the younger leans away to look at him. The tears that marred his cheeks give Kun’s heart an involuntary squeeze. Renjun shakes his head in negation. He can feel Kun’s deft fingers cleaning the tears out of his face, but the uneasiness on the older’s face grows another lump on his throat. Has he done anything wrong?

“Renjun, can I ask you something?” Kun’s reluctant to even ask; Renjun can see that much, but he nods nevertheless. “I have been wondering for awhile—and you’re absolutely not obligated to answer this if you’re not ready—but I’ve been wondering whether you can see people’s cause of death?”

Renjun’s eyes widen at that and Kun’s ears redden at the reaction he gets. He shifts his eyes to look at the floor bashfully. “Ah, forgive me, that must be such a ridiculous notion. I’m sorry to—”

“No, no, it’s okay. I’m just surprised because you’re the first one to realize.” Renjun cuts hurriedly and Kun’s eyes snap back to look at him.

“Wait, so I’m right?”

“Well, uh, no. I can’t really see people’s cause of death, that would be totally unfair to this entire department.”

Kun grins, “Yeah, but even without that you’ve never made a wrong guess to the body’s condition, Renjun. You’re already unfair to this entire department, just for being you. Even Ten made quite a lot of mistakes when we trained together.”

“I’m not trying to—I can’t see people’s cause of death, but, you know, I have other—” Renjun tries to explain bashfully. His hand tries to cup his nape—a hard giveaway that he’s nervous. “I can actually see the last 30 seconds of the body’s life. There. Another unfairness to this department.” 

Renjun refuses to peek at Kun’s reaction, fearing it would be along the line of him getting fired. However, all Renjun can feel in the next second is a pair of strong arms shielding him from the rest of the world. “ _ God, I’m so sorry _ . That must be someone you knew for you to react this violently. I’m so sorry you have to see that.”

The tears are back, welling up on the rim of his eyes before spilling to Kun’s lab coat. Renjun knows he’s breaking at least two hygiene rules right now. “He was such a good person, a kind and smart person. He always wears— _ wore _ his heart on his sleeve, and now— _ God, _ I don’t even—Kun-ge, he deserves  _ so much _ more than to be found lifelessly floating in a lake.” The sobs are back, not as violently, but enough to make him stumbled upon his words.

Kun hugs him for a few minutes more, longer than Renjun would expect to be held by his boss. But then he squeezes the smaller figure before summoning the Qian’s voice. “Coroner’s number one rule, Renjun.” Renjun sniffs once, wipes his face clear of tears and snot, and takes his deepest breath before looking back at Kun. There is still sadness in his eyes, but Kun can see the new determination. 

“Analyze with your head.” Kun nods at the steady answer, reaching his hand out to help Renjun get down from the bed.

“What do you get?”

“First degree murder with a clean stab to the jugular.” Renjun forces his brain to work out through the haze of sadness.

“Clean?” Kun looks closer at the stab wound.

“Someone with trembling hands pulled it out from him, the jagged cut comes from the other party’s panicked state. Making the wound worse than before, probably tampering with his common carotid artery.” The more sentences Renjun gets out, the easier it becomes. He spits out facts like it’s muscle memory. “I need to open the body for more research on that, and we need the family’s approval for that. He was beaten up badly before killed. There’s a cut wound with a lump right above his ear—that’s something common when you fall and cut yourself on a sharp rock or surface—and of course the bruises all over his face.”

“And the lake?”

“He’s probably thrown there to erase the body. The bloating of his skin shows that he might have been killed around three or four days ago. I can further research the water in his lungs, but again we need family approval for that.” Renjun takes another deep breath once he realizes that he’s done. There’s a small smile adoring Kun’s lips and a tinge of pride in the way he looks at his intern.

“I’m promoting you to be our junior pathologist today.” Renjun is taken aback by the sudden statement. “And this will be your first case.” Kun continues with careful eyes. “Unless you refuse to accept.”

Renjun sees the way Kun’s infuriating right eyebrow rises in challenge and hates the way his heart is actually standing up for the challenge. “I’ll take it. This motherfucker will go down for touching the purest person on earth.”

“Coroner’s rule number 2. Don’t ever forget that.” The stern voice comes back.

Renjun grins. “Don’t worry, I’m sure Jeno won’t like revenge anyway. Thank you, Kun-ge.”

Kun smiles back fondly, “Don’t sweat it. And don’t mess up or I’ll take back your promotion.”


	4. Filial Love

It is the third day after Donghyuck finds the body, after three days of nothing from both Johnny and Taeil, and things finally start to fall into place. It starts with a sudden rush inside Taeil’s office before his supervisor pops his head out of the door.

“Hyuck, the case is yours! Captain just gave me the blessing!” Hyuck grins—elated. Taeil only grins back—proud. And then the entire department whooped, led by Yuta because he’s embarrassing like that and Hyuck is the baby of the department. There’s the obligatory  _ “The baby is all grown up,” _ comment here and there and the atmosphere is just so jolly, you’ll forget that there’s an actual dead person behind this celebration. Well, that is until their small celebration is cut off by a nervous knock on the door. It is scary in the way everyone focuses their attention simultaneously to the door, as if expecting both a guest and a threat.

“Come in,” Taeil says carefully, and then a familiar face pops into the room.

“Hyung?” Donghyuck questions carefully, not daring to approach the guy based on how he looks. The usual gentle but sassy demeanor of the man is broken down by the tired look on his face, the paleness of his skin, but most importantly the red rimmed eyes and disarrayed hair. He has been crying. 

Hyuck tries again when he got no answer. This time he gets up from his chair to approach the man slowly. “Doyoung hyung, it’s me Haechannie.” When Hyuck manages to take a closer look, he realizes how Doyoung’s lean frame is trembling. He offers a hand for the other to take, which is fortunately accepted, then he proceeds to lead Doyoung to one of the seats in front of his table. He can see the way Taeil approaches Yuta in his peripheral, probably asking him to give the man a glass of water. Donghyuck manages to catch Taeil’s concerned eyes before nodding in certainty, as if to ask permission to take care of this one. Taeil nods back.

“Hyung, it’s me Hyuckie, please look at me?” Doyoung’s eyes move sharply—his stare is glazed by anxiety and fear, Hyuck can deduct that much. “Are you okay?” he starts simple. When Doyoung shakes his head in negation, Donghyuck frowns. “Are you fighting with Taeyong hyung?”

“No,” he mumbles weakly. At that moment, Yuta comes back with a glass of water, and Hyuck gently forces Doyoung to drink all of it.

“You’re okay, Hyung, I’m here. You can tell me what happened.”

There’s a prolonged silence before Doyoung finally opens his mouth, “Donghyuck-ah, it’s Jeno.” Something strikes deep when he hears the name, like a punch in the gut but gentler. “Jeno, as in your younger brother Jeno?”

“Hyuck, he has been missing…” Donghyuck’s eyes widened at that. His legs move hastily back behind his table to take his notepad and a pen, ready to jot down every piece of information Doyoung would spill.

“For how long?”

Doyoung’s gaze turns lost and a little bit fidgety at the question before he hangs his head down in regret. “I don’t know.” He says defeatedly. Hyuck blanches at that.

“What do you mean you don’t know? Hyung, he’s your brother!”

“I know,  _ God, I know!  _ But it has been rough and we haven’t been—” At that moment, once again the door to their department is opened loudly, making a lot of people jump from their seats, some even instinctively pull out their guns. The guest doesn’t seem bothered, though. It was kind of obvious that he didn’t come looking for trouble, and he’s kind of small enough for Yuta to tackle, so everyone reigns in their weapons and watches the man with wary eyes. He looks around, scanning the room with his sharp gaze before landing on Donghyuck’s name on the top of his left shirt pocket. Donghyuck can see the determination in his eyes when he strides quickly to his table. 

“You’re Lee Donghyuck?” the stranger asks him straightforwardly. Hyuck has half the heart to ignore him, seeing that he already has his guest chairs filled. However, there’s a certain urgency in the way the man stands that Hyuck can’t just shake off.

“Depends on who you are.”

“Huang Renjun, Coroner Department.” he says while putting up a document right in front of Donghyuck’s eyes. “I’m the one who identified the body you found three days ago. Lee Jeno, 24 years old, stabbed to death on the jugular then dumped in the Hyde Park’s Lake, found approximately three days later by you.” Donghyuck—and probably the entire room—freezes at the piece of information that was delivered so easily, so horribly off-handed and nonchalant. Hyuck dares a glance at Doyoung’s face and all he can see is how pale it has become. When he looks back at Renjun, his eyes hold a certain familiar sadness that he can’t place yet _.  _ However, Hyuck’s priority lies on the tremor that takes over Doyoung’s body and the short wheezing breath that looks painful even to Donghyuck’s eyes. Doyoung’s eyes are glazed and he can see the impending panic attack that’s coming. Donghyuck  _ tsk _ ed annoyedly at the impending headache that had started brewing at the back of his head.

“Go inside and talk about your findings with Jung Taeil.” Donghyuck says dismissively at Renjun, leaving no space for arguments. Once Renjun is gone to Taeil’s room, he starts to kneel in front of Doyoung’s chair.

“Hyung, breathe.” It’s stern, unlike the earlier tone he uses on Doyoung. In his experience, talking with people in a panic state in a more authoritative way gives them a semblance of rope to hold on, convincing them that you know what you’re saying can help them.

“I—I can’t, Hyuck—” The tears start welling up and spilling down his cheeks in an unstoppable streaks.

“You can, Hyung. Follow my voice. Breath in for four seconds, and then let it out in another four counts. Breath in, two, three, four. And out, two, three, four. Again.” Hyuck’s voice goes back to soft as he guides the older to breath accordingly. “You’re doing great, one more time.” After a few minutes, Doyoung finally regains his breathing pace, even though the tears are still not stopping. He’s a quiet crier, Donghyuck belatedly realizes, as there’s no raging sob that suffocates the room. It’s painful, though, he can see the way his chest contract deeply, depleting Doyoung’s lungs of the air supply he needs.

“Hyung,” he tries gingerly, and continues when Doyoung’s eyes look back at him. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry this happened.” The man takes a deep breath before parting his lips to answer, but there’s nothing coming out of him—no screams or sobs, not even whines or whimpers. He closes his lips, eyes pointedly looking at Hyuck’s face with tears still streaming down his cheeks—conveying messages not even Hyuck can read. Hyuck tries again. “I know I didn’t know him, and I’m so sorry that I have to meet him this way. But I know you, and he must have been just as good of a person as you are.” Hyuck’s heart breaks trying to convey the love he has for the other man. Doyoung is a good man—the kindest and maybe not the nicest, but the most honest and pure human being Hyuck has the chance to meet through Taeyong, and he’s sure it would apply for his little brother too. It’s a pity for Donghyuck to know the Lee Jeno, who Doyoung always praised so highly, this way. “I’m gonna grab another glass of water, then I’ll call Taeyong Hyung okay? You’ll be alright.” Hyuck heavily says as he squeezes Doyoung’s shoulder for a second before going out to call his cousin.

Taeyong comes to the police station approximately 20 minutes later. There’s sadness and a bone deep worry for his boyfriend that is reflected in the way he moves. He takes Doyoung home, probably letting the man cry more freely in the confines of their shared apartment. The man from the coroner department has been waiting for his turn to talk to Donghyuck in the guest chair for almost 30 minutes with a permanent scowl on his face. Hyuck rolls his eyes before taking a deep breath, embracing himself for what’s to come. Today’s gonna be a long  _ long  _ day.

“Okay, your turn. Out with it.” Hyuck says as he sits across the man who is busy eyeing the folder on the table. The moment Renjun lifts his gaze to look at Hyuck, he is finally hit by the same familiar sadness he can’t place beforehand— _ grief.  _ It’s not the one that overtook Doyoung just before, it’s almost the same gaze he kept sporting in the first few years of losing his mother. “You know the guy…” he mutters his own late realization.

“He was my friend. I didn’t know that was his older brother just before.” Renjun says before mumbling an apology. Hyuck just waves it off in lieu of opening the folder and starts reading the organized report that was brought to him.

“This is… oddly specific?” There’s a tilt of hesitation at the end of his voice that makes it more of a question than a statement.

“Taeil said you’re the one in charge of this case.” Renjun cuts him off with an impatient tone. “I could be your partner in the field.” Hyuck raises his left brow at that.

“Man, no offense, but you have connections with this guy. That alone already breaks a few rules in the police department. You can’t work on the case of someone you knew. I thought you should be aware of these rules while interning?”

“Yeah, but I already got permission from Taeil. Lee Donghyuck, no offense, but this is just me being polite. I don’t really need your permission.” Hyuck stares the guy down at the tone he just used, but Renjun doesn’t back down even a bit.

“Look, we already started with the wrong footing, I really don’t think us being buddy-buddy to solve a case would happen.”

“Deal with it, man. I’m going to catch the murderer of my friend regardless of your help.” Renjun, who seems overly done with the conversation, stands up and excuses himself out. Donghyuck is left agape at his own table with the file of the victim still in his hands.

“What the fuck?” he quietly says as he rounds his table to knock on Taeil’s door, coming in once he’s given the permission.

“Hyuck?”

“Hyung, you let the guy work on this case when he clearly had a past with the victim? What the fuck? Why would you even partner him up with me?” he whines the entire distance from the door until he’s seated in front of his senior.

“It’s not even 2 hours into you having a case and you’re already whining, Hyuck.”

“Don’t start with me, I have to deal with my cousin’s boyfriend panic attack this morning because of that…  _ intern. _ ” And suddenly there’s a menacing glare from Taeil that makes him curl on himself a little. Taeil rarely shows his annoyance.

“He’s a really capable junior pathologist, probably the most promising one they have right now. Don’t get a big head just because this is your case, Hyuck, I would not tolerate that.”

“Fine.” Hyuck sulks a little bit. “Fine, I’ll be good and professional.”

“Good. As I’ve said before, don’t fuck this up. And I, for one, think you two will be a good team once.” Taeil eyes soften. “You both exude the same aura.”

“What do you mean?” Taeil just shrugs.

“You, him, and this town itself exude the same energy. You’re just... _ bigger _ than anything could combine.” Hyuck narrows his eyes at Taeil before putting a palm on his senior’s forehead.

“Drink a lot of water, Hyung. I think you’re not feeling well.” And honestly, the pile of paper that is hurled towards Hyuck the next second is really no surprise at all.

* * *

“How is he?” Hyuck asks worriedly into the phone as he sits on his kitchen counter.

“Not good.” The tired voice of his cousin comes through. They both sigh.

“A coroner that was assigned on this case asked to partner up with me. We’re not on good terms, but I think I’d make my amends.” Hyuck says quietly, absentmindedly watching the picture of Lee Jeno on one of the scattered papers around him.

“I think he’d like that. Regardless of whether you solve the case or not, I think Doyoung would prefer it if Jeno’s old friend and you are the ones who work on the case.” There’s a laugh that comes from his chest—a little bit hollow. He braces himself for what’s coming.

“Hyung, we would need the family statement. You know, for the case, for further research, further investigation.” He winces at the silence that follows.

“You need more research— _ oh.  _ For the body?”

“Yeah…”

“I—okay, yeah, I’ll try to tell him about it.” Hyuck mutters a thank you. “Don’t worry, he’ll help. I’ll be here to make sure he’s okay after that.”

“He’ll get his closure. I promise.”

“Hyuck, I know how you are. Don’t overwork yourself, okay? I can’t really be there fully for you right now.” Taeyong’s voice is laced heavily with worry.

“Don’t worry about me. Take care of your fiance, tell him I love him.” Hyuck smiles forlornly at nothing before cutting off the phone call. He, then, rereads the scattered report and pictures of the victim’s wound with each plausible cause of it. The report is oddly vivid, as if the writer was actually there when the execution happened. There’s a strange feeling in Hyuck’s gut.  _ You, him, the town…bigger than anything combined.  _ Taeil’s words come back to him, and in a split second, he finally understands. Hastily, he opens his messages with Taeil to search for the pathologist’s number, pulls up the messenger app, and sends out a text.

**+421-2303-2000**

_ This is Donghyuck. Let’s meet tomorrow at 10 in the cafe near your office. _

He takes the marker behind his ear right after clicking send. He opens the cap with his mouth before writing a phrase in the empty spaces of Renjun’s report.  _ NO SOUL. _

**+421-2303-2000**

_ This is Donghyuck. Let’s meet tomorrow at 10 in the cafe near your office. _

_ Okay. _

_ Thank you _


	5. Lee House Co. Scandal

“So this Jeno was your high school friend? And he’s basically the kindest human on Earth, so it doesn’t make sense for anyone to want him dead?” Hyuck summarizes Renjun’s story from just a moment before. “Usually, I’d say that’s you being biased, but I’ll shut up today. His brother is basically the same.”

“Lee Doyoung, right? Jeno always talked about his brother like he hung the stars up in the sky.” Hyuck sips at his coffee before getting into the serious part of the conversation. They had exchanged pleasantries to gloss over the incident from yesterday, but even now Hyuck can see how fidgety Renjun has been.

“Okay, I’m gonna be real with you. Your report.”

“What’s with it?”

“You’re going to get into jail first before you can even talk if you write case reports like that.” Renjun looks affronted, and Hyuck tries to placate his words. “I am not saying you’re involved. But the courts will. Renjun, you write reports as if you were there at the crime scene, witnessing the crime with your own two eyes.”

Renjun sighs, deflating like a balloon. “I wasn’t there. And I have never written an official report as well, someone always edited my reports before it was sent out.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Hyuck snickers, but there’s also an amusement behind his words. “So, if we’re working together, I need to know what’s your deal.” Renjun visibly hesitates at that, and so Hyuck takes the lead. “I can see a human’s spirit or soul or ghost, whatever you call it. And I’m friends with one of the Grim Reapers.”

The silence that follows is horribly painful. “I’m not joking, by the way.” Hyuck is compelled to add, and then Renjun eyes go as wide as saucers.

“I—I can look into the last 30 seconds of someone’s life if I touch the corpse?” The hesitation sounds more like the man being in shock than him lying, so Hyuck decides to believe him. Hyuck puts the victim’s folder on the table before opening it to the page where he had written his own verdict.

“One problem. We can’t really abuse my ability in this case because oddly enough, Jeno doesn’t have a soul that I can talk to.” There’s a flicker of curiosity in his dark orbs.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, uh, when we found the body, Johnny—that’s my Grim Reaper friend—was there to collect Jeno’s soul but he can’t find him, and I also can’t feel his energy at all. It was just this big cavity of emptiness that eats at my insides when I touched his body. Johnny said it might be because Jeno had no energy to make him corporeal enough for me or him to see.” They have subconsciously leaned towards each other both intrigued and secretive.

“And this soul energy usually comes from?”

“Emotion. Certain strong feelings that you carry even after you die.”

“So you’re saying he is cut—” there’s a sudden realization that shines in Renjun’s eyes before he’s suddenly deep in his thoughts. “While I was touching his corpse, at the very end of his memory. I felt it. I felt something snapped from somewhere inside him. It had felt like everything was very intense and then in a flip second, he was cut off from all of it. I thought it was just another phenomenon of someone being dead, but I have touched a lot of corpses, and _ not one  _ memory had made me feel the snapping thread.”

“So you’re saying he was cut off from his emotions?”

“No, it’s—I don’t know how to explain this. It didn’t feel forced, it’s like he subconsciously gave up?” The urgency that is suddenly projected in his face makes Hyuck scared. This case might just be bigger than the two of them can handle. Renjun is getting up hastily and taking the file with him as he talks so quickly, his accent starts blurring the words. But Donghyuck understands. “I’ll take this back to the mortuary and I’m gonna ask around. Are you okay to go to Doyoung’s alone?” Hyuck nods at that, after all he only needs some signature on the paper. Renjun sighs in relief. “Alright, good. I’ll get back to you with answers as quick as I can.” Donghyuck watches as Renjun’s small figure runs across the street with his big ass sling bag hitting his hip with every step. 

“Alright, we have gotten somewhere. Let’s get to work.” he mutters to himself as he also leaves the cafe to the direction of Doyoung’s apartment.

* * *

The face that greets him at the front door exudes a great amount of sadness and exhaustion, but Hyuck still receives a hug anyway.

“You’re okay?” the face that is hidden in the crook of Hyuck’s neck hums softly. Hyuck tightens the arms around Taeyong’s midsection considerably.

“He’s in the living room, I’ll go make lunch for us.” Taeyong says as he leans away from the hug, sending Hyuck a half smile. Hyuck nods, sauntering inside like a man with a purpose.

“Hey Hyung, how are you doing?” Doyoung just shrugs. Hyuck understands. “Hyung, we need your statement and approval.”

“You’re investigating me?”

“Sorry, it’s the procedure.”

“And the approval is for?”

Hyuck hesitates at that. “Jeno… he’s not exactly pretty when we found him. We need further research to determine his cause of death and perhaps find the reason of murder.” Doyoung takes a shaky breath. “You can say no.” Hyuck says, giving the older a way out.

“No, it’s okay, anything that can help you.” Doyoung says, two beats too late. Hyuck understands.

“Alright. Tell me about Lee Jeno.”

* * *

If Donghyuck should summarize Doyoung’s explanation, then Lee Jeno would be a fucking angel. Hyuck knows almost all of Doyoung’s answers are biased since he’s Jeno’s brother, but at least he’s one step closer to knowing the victim. Once there was a Kim Doyoung. Doyoung was ten years old when his single mother married his step father. Lee Haebin was the CEO of the Lee House Co. which is a security guard private company. Doyoung always thought that their marriage was more for functional purposes rather than emotional fulfillment, but it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter because he got a new responsibility that needed his attention more than his newly wedded parents—a baby brother. Doyoung had fallen in love with his 5 years old step brother at first sight and had sworn on his life that he would protect the smaller boy forever. 

What once was a promise made by a 10 year old had been turned to reality when their parents died in a bombing incident. Doyoung was only 21, all buried deep in the research for his thesis, when the phone call happened. Jeno was not even home, doing god knows what in his best friend/long life crush/high school sweetheart’s house. And so Doyoung was left to maintain the stability of their life for as long as he’s alive, leaving Jeno to do the rest—the rest being raising three cats, going on dates with his boyfriend, finishing school, being a normal 17 year old high school boy that wasn't burdened by the world.

But as most plans where one tried to shoulder all the burden of life, things never went as planned. A 21 year old Jeno, an undergraduate of business and management major, was suddenly handed the responsibility of their late parents' corporate chain. It was a fair split, Doyoung was left with half of their wealth as the step older brother and Jeno, the true Lee heir, was left with his share of wealth  _ and  _ the company. As Jeno tried to adapt with his new responsibility, Doyoung tried to be the moral support that his little brother neededs while also trying to chase his own dream. And, honestly, it worked—for awhile.

Jeno was a good businessman, so in correlation to that, the company thrived under his care. In the span of two years, the company was getting bigger as ever, just as Doyoung’s start-up news company started getting some recognition. Doyoung was there for Jeno’s every achievement and vice versa. However, that stopped when one day a young handsome man came to Doyoung, asking for permission to take Jeno’s hand in marriage. Doyoung was shocked because as far as he knew, Jeno was still very much together with his high school sweetheart, Na Jaemin. When confronted, Jeno was weirdly adamant about Mark Lee being the one for him. Doyoung did not agree to the marriage, but Jeno married Mark either way. Doyoung didn’t come to the marriage.

It was a rocky siblings relationship afterwards, with Doyoung trying to make room for Mark—because let’s face it, no matter how Doyong didn’t agree to the relationship, Mark had always been an angel—and with Jeno trying his hardest to create a distance with his brother who had hurt his feelings. They kept in touch, of course, they love each other too much to not to, but sometimes the crack on the bond is too apparent to ignore, even heightened every time Jeno came over with Mark in tow. The last time Jeno visited Doyoung had been three weeks ago, bidding farewell because he needed to go overseas for work purposes. However, there was only radio silence from Jeno for a whole two weeks, which was odd since he tends to at least shoot Doyoung a text whenever he’s back in Balisewood. He went to the police after Jeno was still uncontactable for the next three days—Taeyong’s advice.

Once Hyuck gets back to his office, away from the emotionally draining conversation, he slumps in his seat. The small journal that he keeps for interrogation purposes is opened on his table, adorned with big red marker notes.

> **INVESTIGATE: LEE HOUSE CO.**
> 
> **???NA JAEMIN???**
> 
> **SUSPECT NO.1: MARK LEE**

There’s something missing. Hyuck’s instinct has been warning him since the first question he had thrown into the suffocating air of Doyoung and Taeyong’s apartment. Perhaps, it was just him being paranoid—or absolutely delusional, he doesn’t want to know—but there’s a similar tinge of emptiness in the house with the one he felt in the lake. Something he hasn’t managed to shake out of his system until now. Something heavy that pulls him to think—to do something he knows he’ll regret, but something he couldn’t ignore because his gut says so. Donghyuck has always trusted his instinct, always trusts that pull in his stomach that he somehow knows comes from the city he’s living in right now.

_ CLACK! _

Donghyuck jumps in his seat at the sudden intrusive loud sound and looks under his table. He stares unblinkingly in confusion at his phone that is now on the floor. He  _ swears _ that the phone was never near the edge of the table and his hands were at the back of his head. He  _ swears _ there’s nothing that would be able to make his phone fall off the table.  _ Unless _ —

“Are you here?” He says quickly into thin air, eyes sweeping around every corner and crevices of the homicide department office. “Lee Jeno, are you here? Make a sound if you are.” There’s almost a gleeful twist in the deepest part of his chest. If only Jeno is here and is able to communicate, the case wouldn’t be so hard to crack. However, two heartbeats passed and no sound was made. Hyuck’s heart drops slightly. The office is empty at this hour of the night, and the only sound coming in is from the angry traffic down the road. He wishes Jeno would be here to guide him because he would rather not do the thing he’s going to do next. Alas, Jeno is nowhere to be seen, and Hyuck trusts his instinct more than his brain. Soon, the incessant tap of shoes on the floor and the soft ringing tone replace the distant angry traffic noise.

“Hello? Hyuckie?”

“Hyung!” Donghyuck slaps a cheery smile on his face, even though there is no one who could see him. “I’m sorry for calling you when I just got out of your hair today.”

“No, it’s okay. Do you forget anything?”

“No, I just forgot to ask some questions. May I?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

“Hyung, do you know who was the one in charge with the company while Jeno was still in high school and college?”

“Oh, well, that would be me.” Donghyuck’s gut churns uneasily. Still he takes a deep breath and presses on.

“And, hypothetically, if this current situation would ever happen, who would be the one who takes charge of, you know, the company?”

There’s a heartbeat of silence on the open line.

“The next heir in line or the one who is written in Jeno’s will.” Hyuck can hear the hesitation. Hyuck can hear the deflection. Hyuck can hear the hidden  _ me _ as an answer in between the lines. The next heir in line is Doyoung. Hyuck’s chest clenches in a way so painful, he needs to take an inconspicuous breath to ease it up.

“Okay, Hyung, thank you so much for your cooperation.” His voice is cheery, the smile on his face wobbles slightly. “Have a good night, Hyung. Feel better soon.” He ends the call with trembling fingers, closes his eyes, and takes another shuddering breath. There’s something that rolls and bumps with his fist on the table. He stares at the lone red marker that, without a doubt, was on his standing pencil cup before. His tears well at that, his throat constrict tightly as he takes the marker.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Hyuck’s voice trembles as he writes his new conclusion, spewing apologies as if he’s the one who killed his own brother—perhaps to a certain degree he does. After all, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if Taeyong ended up broken after this.

> **INVESTIGATE: LEE HOUSE CO.**
> 
> **???NA JAEMIN???**
> 
> **SUSPECT NO. 1: MARK LEE**
> 
> **SUSPECT NO. 2: KIM DONGYOUNG.**


	6. Devoted Lover

Renjun doesn’t like this at all. At first, he thought it would feel good to be able to solve the murder case of his own friend. He thought wrong. Renjun doesn’t like this. He doesn’t like the fact that his friend is dead. He doesn’t like the fact that his friend was murdered. But most of all, he doesn’t like the fact that there’s a 50% plausible probability that his friend’s brother, the one person that his friend had looked up to so much, is the victim.

When meeting Donghyuck the day after the individual investigation, Renjun brought a fact from Sicheng who was one of Kun’s most trusted forensic psychologists.

“So he said, and I paraphrased that hypothetically, Jeno’s soul or spirit might just be using its defense mechanism. Just like when some people undergo too much trauma, their brains tend to shut down in order to save the person—whether it’s in the simple form of passing out or to the point of blocking said traumatizing memory.” There’s something odd that fleets through Hyuck’s face—Renjun thinks it looks like resentment.

“So, you’re saying that Jeno gives up on being corporeal because being a tangible spirit means acknowledging the whole painful turmoil he had to face before his death?”

“Yeah, more or less.” Renjun shrugs, “What do you think it might be?” Only then Hyuck’s face turns dark. Renjun witnesses him taking his journal out of his bag and opening it right in front of Renjun’s face. 

> **SUSPECT NO. 2: KIM DONGYOUNG.**

“No.” The smaller guy finally says after a long pause of silence. “Hyuck, there’s no way. Jeno _loved_ him. He loved Jeno. They both looked at each other like they hung up the stars in the sky!” 

"Do you think I don't know that?" Hyuck scoffs. There's a tinge of pain somewhere underlying his tone.

"But this is the most absurd conclusion ever?! Like what even prompted this?"

"He was the one taking care of the company before Jeno graduated. He would be the one taking care of the company _now."_ Renjun blanches at that.

"Lee Donghyuck, that's not enough evidence for you to accuse someone of something this big!" Renjun hisses, "I thought you're at least a decent detective, God dammit." Hyuck's eyes narrow at that.

"Do you think I want to put his name there? He's my cousin's fucking fiance! But think about it, Renjun! He's suspicious enough to be a suspect. He loves his fucking brother to death and yet he only came to the police after three weeks of radio silent, who the fuck did that?"

"He was having a panic attack right in front of you, you dimwit! Listen, all evidence _might_ just be pointing at him, but I don't believe it. There's no way it's him, or else Jeno would just snap from the first second he saw his brother. He has his own news company, Donghyuck. And like, for fuck’s sake, don’t you think I would recognize his voice in my vision if he’s the one who murdered Jeno?" Hyuck groans at that.

"Fine. Fine, we'll keep Doyoung out of this." Renjun's relieved stance is very palpable. " _For now._ "

"You're not gonna have me for that interrogation unless you have actual evidence of him being involved then." Renjun snaps.

"Fine with me. I trust my instinct more than anything, Huang. I'll get you those evidence. For now, we'll visit Na Jaemin."

* * *

Na Jaemin, the son of Balisewood major, _Na Jaemin_ , as expected lives in the nicest part of the city. Hyuck and Renjun are waiting in front of the very nice wooden door, a few seconds after Renjun had decided to be brave and punched the doorbell. When Jaemin finally opens the door with a greeting and a confused smile on his face, Hyuck is taken aback by the appearance that greets him. He has been imagining a handsome person with a cold smile and proper courtesy of a high class member of the society. What greet him is actually the complete opposite. Na Jaemin exudes warmth through his every mannerism, starting from his soft looking hair, bright eyes, and even a brighter smile when he actually recognized one of the people standing uninvited on his porch.

“Huang Renjun?” Jaemin’s eyes widen at Renjun’s appearance, unconsciously greedy in taking how his old friend looks right now. And in that moment, Renjun fears what would come next. His eyes are bright and his smile is even brighter, which means Jaemin hasn’t heard and he doesn’t know. He hasn’t heard how his best friend met his end at the bottom of a random lake. The second Renjun takes a glance at Hyuck’s face confirms everything. Renjun takes a deep breath before plastering a smile on his face.

“Nana…” he starts while slowly grinning. The grin on Jaemin’s face gets even wider.

“Injunnie!” Jaemin’s eyes twinkle as he goes forward and envelops the smaller guy in his embrace. “It has been too long! To what do I owe the pleasure?” he says again as Renjun was released from his hold. Hyuck finds the entire exchange amusing. _Injunnie._

“I’m sorry, but I’m not here today as an old friend. Nana, this is my colleague, Lee Donghyuck. A detective from the police department.” Renjun gestures towards Donghyuck.

“The police department?”

“Yeah, I’m Lee Donghyuck, we’re here today to ask you a few questions regarding the case we’re working on. Would that be okay with you, Mr. Na?”

“Uh, I guess if I can be any help, why not? Please do come in.” Renjun can see the way Jaemin hesitates to open the door, the way Jaemin’s brain gears cog to figure out what’s wrong. They were led to a spacey living room and also given drinks of their liking by the house maids. “So, uh, how can I help you?”

“Mr. Na—”

“Just Jaemin is alright.”

Hyuck takes a deep breath. God, he isn’t sure he’s up for another episode of heartbreak. “Jaemin, we’re here to ask you questions about our latest case’s victim, Lee Jeno.” Hyuck sees the way Jaemin recognizes the name, and then the way his brain processes the sentence. He sees the way Jaemin’s shoulders tense and the way all of his muscles lock in place—not of fear, Hyuck can recognize fear way too easily, but of shock.

“What—” Jaemin’s voice sounds awfully airy. “What do you mean Jeno is your latest case’s victim?” There’s panic that seeps through Jaemin’s stare. Donghyuck takes a look at Renjun and sees the way his eyes plead for him to take over the conversation entirely.

“Jaemin, we found Jeno’s body at the bottom of Hyde Park’s lake four days ago. We’re only able to contact you now because Jeno’s brother mentioned your name yesterday.”

“You found… Jeno’s body?” Jaemin asks again as his face keeps turning a shade paler. “Jeno— _my_ Jeno is _dead_?” Renjun shoots out of his seat at record speed to catch both the glass that is slipping from Jaemin’s hand and Jaemin’s body that slumps right onto Renjun’s embrace.

“Oh _shit._ ” Hyuck curses as he helps Renjun to put the glass on the table, while the other puts Jaemin’s head on the back of the plush couch. He’s gently tapping Jaemin’s cheeks in order to wake him up.

“God, I never thought he’ll be clueless on this.” Renjun says in passing before going back to waking up the boy. “Nana, come on Jaeminnie, wake up.” After a few seconds, Jaemin’s eyes flutter open as color seeps back to his cheeks and lips. Hyuck sighs in relief while putting a glass of water in Jaemin’s hand for him to drink.

“Sorry for fainting. That’s embarrassing.” Jaemin finally says after gulping his water down.

“Hey, it’s your body going into shock. You have no control over it, don’t apologize.” Renjun states as if it’s a matter of fact. Hyuck expects Jaemin to break down in tears after, but the tears never spill and he wants to hug the other just for trying to make this process easier for all of them. Hyuck also wants to hug Jaemin just because all of the bright stars in his eyes are gone ever since he woke up. They continue the question and answer session after that, with Hyuck being the one to ask important questions, Jaemin being a hundred percent cooperative, and Renjun being the stonewall Jaemin needs to lean for support everytime he chokes up in his emotions. It’s a draining process for all of them.

Jaemin is innocent—that much is clear. He hasn’t been in much contact with Jeno for the past few years unless it’s about business, but he keeps tabs on his ex-lover. It wasn’t a heavy fall-out or something. Jaemin just thinks that Jeno had made his choice when he decided to leave Jaemin to marry Mark. And so they drifted apart naturally as Jaemin tried to mend his heart, and Jeno tried to maintain his new life. It was a story filled with pain and longing, as it is palpable how many feelings Jaemin still couldn’t erase when it comes to Jeno. After all, the boy was his only ride or die for more than ten years. Jaemin’s hands are shaky when he bid Hyuck and Renjun goodbye. No one reprimands him for not seeing his guests out of his house—Hyuck understands, Hyuck hopes Renjun understands too.

The sounds of heartbreaking sobs start before Renjun manages to close the door entirely. Donghyuck sighs as he closes his eyes and leans on one of the big pillars in front of the house for support. They didn’t really get much except that all of Jeno’s falling out starts with marrying Mark Lee. Donghyuck regrets not searching up for Mark Lee last night. There’s a shiver that racks his body as a sudden strong gust of wind blows their way. Hyuck opens his eyes only to see Renjun leaning his forehead on the door with closed eyes, his body is shivering lightly as if the early autumn is already too cold for him.

“Hey Renjun, are you okay?” Hyuck decides to ask gently.

There’s a long pause before Renjun’s cracked voice lets out a soft, “No.” _God,_ Hyuck’s heart breaks the sudden realization that the shivers most probably come from the sniffles he’s trying to reign in. Hyuck leans away from his pillar and takes a cautious step towards the other. After all, he’s not sure what’s the protocol of comforting your _only-knew-each-other-for-three-days_ partner. He puts a hand on Renjun's houlder before squeezing it lightly, making the other look at him as he opens his arms wide for a hug. It's an invitation, whether he'd like to get into Hyuck’s embrace that's all up to Renjun. He's not sure how to actually console people unprofessionally—Renjun is more than just a victim’s relative from whom he needs to draw information—but Taeyong tends to console him a lot, even when he doesn’t ask for it, and so he follows his only example. A hug—even coming from a stranger, it should relieve a bit of someone’s burden. Hyuck wants Renjun to know that since they were becoming partners, no one should burden anything alone.

And as simple as the first autumn leaf that falls to meet the earth, as simple as breathing, Renjun slots himself snug in between Donghyuck’s arms. The sniffles start right away, and Hyuck can feel the shirt on his shoulder dampens. He tightens his arms that circle Renjun’s figure.

“I’m sorry. I forgot they were your friends once. Let it out, today must be hard for you.” Hyuck feels more than hear when Renjun tries to entangle his head from his hiding spot on Hyuck’s shoulder to refute his statement. Hyuck doesn’t let him. His arm comes to gently put Renjun’s head back down. “Don’t worry about it. You can disagree with me tomorrow.” And to Hyuck’s surprise, Renjun just snuggles back to the joint between his shoulders and neck and resumes his crying. Both of them can still hear the heart-wrenching sobs coming from the other side of the door. Jaemin must be just as in pain as the boy in his arms. He somehow finds it in himself to smile fondly. “Hey Lee Jeno, look at how much these people love you.” He says to no one in particular. Perhaps Jeno’s spirit is nearby, watching them. Renjun only cries harder. “Gain some strength from their pain and love, man. You’re not alone here.” There’s a promise that forms in Donghyuck’s heart. A promise to solve Jeno’s case just because he’s a good human being and he deserves his justice. Hyuck just hopes Jeno would be able to be corporeal enough to take his second chance in life.

Hyuck doesn’t know how long they’ve spent standing in front of someone’s house, crying and comforting. However, his jumps slightly, effectively dislocating Renjun from his spot, when the door is suddenly opened by Jaemin. Jaemin looks just as bad as Renjun at the moment, with their faces blotchy and red, tear tracks still adorning their cheeks, and even some forgotten snot down their noses. Hyuck flinches hearing Jaemin’s hoarse voice.

“Would you like to come inside and cry together instead?” he asks shyly, eyes stuck on the wet spot on the sleeves of his shirt. “I think I could use a friend right now.” Jaemin finally looks up at Renjun with a hopeful gaze. The bright smiles are still not back, but Hyuck is relieved to see something resembling a spark in his eyes—perhaps it’s just the light being reflected by his teary eyes, but it looks better than Jaemin’s dull gaze. Renjun nods before he can even think and Hyuck smiles as he follows the two inside, happily subjecting himself to be the support hug for his _known-for-three-days_ partner and the major’s son slash his partner’s friend. And if the empty space on the large couch is actually occupied, no one needs to know besides Hyuck who catch the soft pale glimmer of _something_ that last as long as their stay in Jaemin’s house.


	7. Funeral

Jeno’s funeral is held two days later. It wasn’t the prettiest, as the rain kept steadily pouring the entire day. Donghyuck gets the invitation to the funeral, as well as Taeyong and Renjun. Donghyuck decides to not come. He’s nowhere near finished with the case, and, honestly, he’s not in the mood to be in the crowd of crying people. People who he knew care for Jeno, but also people who are involved in Jeno’s murder. The thunder has just started its orchestra outside, but he keeps his focus on the investigation board in front of him. It’s a transparent board filled with pictures and white lines and notes from his stack of white markers. The structure helps him pay attention more than the usual red thread and wooden board default.

He hasn’t been able to meet Mark, as apparently he asked the office to keep him busy in order to function. Mark has been sent outside of the city to seal a deal with a big company by their CEO substitute who keeps the company intact as Doyoung is still not fit to take over. Hyuck hopes Mark would be at the funeral and Renjun would be able to talk with him a little bit.

Hyuck met Jaehyun—the CEO substitute—yesterday in order to finalize their investigation schedule. Hyuck could see that Jaehyun is an ambitious man, and nothing else beyond that. It's not because of the lack of characters, but because Jaehyun managed to lock everything inside—somewhere Hyuck can't pry open with his reading skill. Hyuck knew the Jaehyun that the man wanted to show to Hyuck, nothing more, nothing less. He had been cautious as he talked with the guy. Donghyuck can sense when he's talking with people that he can't mess up with, Jaehyun is one of them. He has power and he knows how to control the ball to his court.  _ Dangerous  _ had been Hyuck’s first thought of the man, as nothing managed to slip from his untouchable facade within the two hours that they were talking. Nothing for Donghyuck to read, and it frustrates him to no end.

A thunder cracks, lighting up the dark room, as he stares at Jung Jaehyun’s name at the bottom right corner of the board. All clean of notes. Hyuck eyes then move to the name beside Jaehyun’s. This one is circled countless times and adorned with many question marks. Hyuck still doesn’t get the evidence he needs to put Doyoung’s name on his board. He still doesn’t have any idea on what would make Doyoung do something as vile as killing his brother, and frankly he’s tired of it. He kept using at least two hours of his day to think of a reason to frame Doyoung, but at this point he has doubted his own belief. What if this is just him wanting to prove something to Renjun?

— _ I thought you’re at least a decent detective. _

What if he really has become a bad person for wanting to frame someone he loves, someone his cousin loves, only to save his ego?

— _ I thought you’re at least a decent detective. _

What would Taeyong think of him? What would  _ Doyoung  _ think of him?

— _ I thought you’re at least a decent detective. _

The sudden slam of the back door startles him out of stupor. He watches as Taeyong—all wet and angry looking Taeyong—looks at him with displeasure. Hyuck knows there’s a scolding right at the tip of his tongue, but his eyes wanders to the board that stands between them. Hyuck knows Taeyong knows what it is. He sees the exact moment Taeyong recognizes his fiance’s name on the board. A sharper gaze than before is redirected towards him.

“Why are you not at the funeral?” He was shivering, Hyuck holds himself back from taking a towel and giving it to his cousin. Taeyong will explode if he does that, and he most definitely doesn’t want that. So Hyuck goes for the next best thing; he shrugs.

“I don’t know Jeno.”  _ Wrong answer.  _ Taeyong seethes at that.

“You know  _ enough.  _ You know Doyoung  _ enough. _ ” Now that is not a part of the previous topic.

“Do I though? Do  _ you _ ?”

Taeyong takes a deep breath, “Hyuck, don’t do this. You know he’s not someone who has the gut to do that. He loves his brother  _ so much.” _

“I  _ know _ .” Hyuck doesn’t know where the anger comes from, but he snaps. He’s tired. He’s tired of seeing people cry. He’s tired of doubting the people he loves. He’s tired of being scared that he will fail. He’s afraid because if he does fail, he’d get left behind. He’d be back to square one—back to that night his mother left him because Taeyong would be so disappointed with him. Taeyong would rather go with someone who loves him than with an excuse of a cousin who accused other people of crude things—Taeyong wouldn’t do that, but there are ugly things in Hyuck’s brain that won’t shut up sometimes. If he fails, Taeil would be disappointed in him and he’ll probably get kicked off the police department. If he fails, he’ll forever feel guilty towards Doyoung out of the rest because  _ I thought you’re at least a decent detective, Lee Donghyuck. _

“I know he loves his brother  _ so much, _ but I don’t know if  _ so much _ would be enough to hold him from being involved in this. And I am not saying Doyoung is someone who would be cruel enough to kill his own step brother, but I also love you enough to put my suspicion in him. Everyone who is related to the victim is a suspect until proven wrong—family included. First rule of the homicide department.” Hyuck finally says. Taeyong levels him with a stare for so long, Hyuck starts to cave in on himself—eyes on the floor, fingers on the hem of his shirt. It feels too familiar—too similar to that time Taeyong gets scarily angry at Hyuck for telling him that the bruises had come from soccer practice instead of the meanies at elementary school. Hyuck feels the shame build on his chest until it crushes him from the inside.

“ _ Please _ —” he realizes that he’s been crying as he chokes on his words, “Please don’t leave me for this. I—”

“ _ God, _ ” he hears the heartbreak in Taeyong’s small voice before there are steps coming towards him and then a pair of arms envelop him in the most familiar, most comforting hug Hyuck has come to know.

“ _ I’m sorry, _ ” Hyuck says desperately. “I’m sorry, please.” Taeyong shushes him as his hug gets tighter.

“Hyuck, I’m here,  _ breathe.  _ I’m here, I’m not leaving you,  _ ever.  _ Why would you even think that?  _ God.  _ I love you, okay. I’m here, I’m not leaving, I won’t ever leave you even if you got this wrong. You think Doyoung is involved in the murder of his brother, that’s okay. That’s a given as you’re the detective. I won’t leave you if he is, indeed, involved,  _ and  _ I won’t leave you if, apparently, he’s not involved. You’d always have me by your side, baby.”

“Trust me, just trust me on this one. I won’t ever bring up his name if I don’t have enough evidence against him. I need you to trust me, Hyung.”

“I do. I trust you, always, even when you don’t tell me things. I trust you.” There’s a low chuckle laced with a tinge of hurt. “You’re a good detective, Hyuck, don’t doubt that.”

“I’m sorry for not telling you things.” Hyuck says as he untangles himself from Taeyong and wipes his face clean with his sleeves. “I need to go to Jeno’s house for a search party, this is unethical, but what if you accompany me and I can tell you everything I haven’t on the road?” Hyuck smiles when he sees Taeyong’s shy smile blooms on his lips.

* * *

Hyuck isn’t sure what he’s looking in Jeno’s big ass apartment alone without the forensic team, but Taeyong is waiting for him in the parking lot as he can’t get involved in the case, so Hyuck’s gotta make this fast. The guard at the front office had agreed to help Hyuck to unlock Jeno’s door when he pulled out his badge. Once the lights are turned on, the first thing Hyuck sees is the suitcase on the floor, near the couch. That’s suspiciously convenient, but he keeps barging in as he has no time to waste. The faster they could solve the case the better. He works through it first, as he’s still not sure what Jeno was actually doing on the day of his murder. No one even knew where he was murdered as Hyde Park doesn’t have enough CCTVs to catch the suspect in action—too many blind spots. Hyuck realizes how unorganized his investigation had been; he probably should have done this on the first day instead of the fourth.

He curses as he doesn’t find anything inside the suitcase, and he almost closes the luggage back when he realizes the untidiness of the clothes inside. He freezes. Jeno could just be an untidy person regarding used laundry, but judging from the state of his clean apartment, Hyuck knows he’s not the first one to do this. Someone was here before him and managed to rummage through Jeno’s belongings first. The sudden slam of the door makes him jump, but he catches the sudden movement from his peripheral vision first. He knows he gets the upper hand in this fight as he manages to shield himself from the object that is coming towards him—he also gets a bunch of clothes thrown at him, but that’s the perks of using a loaded suitcase as a shield. When he feels no force given towards his shield, Donghyuck lowers his shield only to see Jaemin’s surprised face with a ceramic vase on his hands above his head.

“Donghyuck?! What are you doing here?”

Hyuck grunts as he throws the suitcase away, “I’m the police, I should be the one asking you! You scared the fuck out of me, you ass.”

“Uh, right, um so I was here to investigate, you know, Jeno’s death?”

Hyuck levels him with a stare, “And why would you do that?”

Jaemin fumbles with his fingers for a second before ends up whining, “I don’t know, man! I have a lot quicker resources than you lot, and I could just crack this faster instead of waiting for you guys!” Donghyuck can feel a headache growing at the back of his head.

“Jaemin, you’re putting yourself in danger doing this.”

“I don’t care,” he says softly, “It’s not like I have anything to live for anymore.” Jaemin’s eyes refuse to meet Hyuck’s. Hyuck sighs.

“You know, I have the perfect answer for that, but we’re running out of time, so we’re gonna get back to that topic one day. For now, do you find anything from your search?” Jaemin grins triumphantly at that, while brandishing a wallet, a journal, and a phone from his back.

“You got yourself a jackpot.” 

Hyuck grins. “Good, you’re coming with me to crack these babies.”

Hyuck pulls Jaemin to accompany him in checking the apartment elevators and corridor’s CCTV for anything weird on the night Jeno was killed. They found nothing but Jeno coming home alone, looking exhausted with his luggage in tow, However the man in question came back out a few minutes later without bringing anything, and never came back. Hyuck decides to text Renjun on their way back to the police station.

**Injunnie**

_ I got a jackpot. Jeno left all of his belongings in his apartment. _

_ Be careful interrogating the suspects tomorrow. _

_ Aye aye captain. _

_ Good luck! _

_ By the way do you meet any of  _ _ Jeno’s officemate at today’s funeral? _

_ No, I don’t think they came at all. _

_ Oof reckless... _

_ I know, we’ll get the answers tomorrow _

_ Don’t forget to rest. _

_ Will do! _


	8. Night Night

Lee House Co. stands tall in front of Renjun and the forensic team that he brought for investigation. Donghyuck is in charge of the search party in the perimeter of the lake and the park, while Renjun is looking for Mark Lee and more evidence in the office. It’s a staged murder, Renjun’s vision makes sure of it, but it would mean nothing if they can’t find any evidence to back up their arguments. 

**Donghyuck (detective)**

_ Good luck today. _

_ Thanks, you too. _

_ Tell me if you find anything in Jeno’s phone or journals. _

_ Will do! _

_ Be careful with Jaehyun.  _ _ I have a bad feeling about him. _

It’s an odd thing as he calmly walks up to the receptionist to show them his search warrant, especially when he can see the fear in their eyes clearly. He is brought to the boss—Jeno’s current substitutes—for the investigations process. When he steps into the highest floor of the building, the boss’ secretary greets them politely. The forensic team has gone to their own post, waiting for Renjun’s approval to move forward with the investigation.

“Hello, I’m Mark Lee. Would you mind waiting for a second? The previous meeting ran a little bit late.” Renjun stops in his track all of the sudden, eyes going wide as the voice registers in his brain.

_ “This is wrong, please, why are we even doing this? Please, please stop, he still has so much he can live for! No one told me it will come down to this, please don’t do this...” _

Renjun’s inside turns cold. Trying to gather his wits as quick as possible, he smiles at the man in front of him. “Hi, I’m Huang Renjun, and yeah, sure.” Mark smiles back at him. There’s a deep exhaustion buried under his gaze and he’s so strung up, Renjun’s afraid he’ll shatter with a touch. It’s to be expected though, his husband has just died.

The death that he helped stage.

“Alright, you can hang out for awhile on the couch or the chairs as I notify Jaehyun of your arrival. Do you want anything to drink?” 

“Just water is fine.” Renjun says as he takes a seat in the chair beside the grand wooden door. Mark smiles politely before walking away to fetch Renjun’s drink. “Mr. Lee?” Renjun calls as Mark walks away. When the taller looks back with inquisitive eyes, Renjun says just out of spite, “I’m sorry for the loss of your husband. We’ll make sure to solve this case.”

Renjun sees the subtle way Mark flinches at his words. He sees the low shimmer of panic in his demeanor that is gone in a short second. He sees the faux collective air around the other, willing it to break under and reveal all of the crude things Mark had done. The response comes a millisecond late,“Thank you, Mr. Huang.”

_ Coroner’s rule no. 2. No revenge mission.  _ Right. Renjun takes a deep breath as they are left alone in the waiting room.

**Donghyuck (detective)**

_ Mark Lee’s involved. _

_ He’s the one begging the murder scene to be stopped. _

_ But he’s involved. _

_ Disappointed but not surprised. _

_ Again, be careful. _

_ 🙄🙄 _

_ Yes, mom. _

Mark comes back in the next minute as the rest of the employees come out of Jaehyun’s room, clearly having just been dismissed from the meeting for Renjun. Once let inside, he can see the exact reason why Donghyuck wants him to take caution in interrogating Jaehyun. He’s the exact epitome of composedly dangerous.

“Mr. Jung.” he says politely with a smile. A hand is offered to be shaken. Jaehyun smiles somehow genuinely as he takes Renjun’s hand in his.

“Mr. Huang.” There’s a distant coldness that grips Renjun from head to toes. “I take it you’ll be the one in charge for today’s investigation?”

_ “SHUT UP! Shut up or you’re next.”  _

_ “Night night, Lee Jeno.” _

“Yes. Mr. Lee is not able to come today because there’s a complication with his other case. He sends his regards.” Renjun smiles as he lies through his teeth. “Shall we get down to it then? My team is ready to go once you’ve given the permission.” Renjun tries so hard to copy the perfect facade of the other guy. The battle has begun and the first one to slip will lose.

“Yeah, sure, please do take a seat. Your team is welcome to investigate the company until you find something that can help you with Mr. Lee’s case. We have deep regrets regarding our previous CEO’s death. Lee Jeno was an admirable man.” Both Jaehyun’s voice and expression carry the deep remorse of a fellow work colleague, but nothing reaches his eyes. Renjun nods, sending a text to the team leader to start investigating.

“Since you have 15 floors on this building, it will take some time to finish searching in all areas. In the meantime, why don’t we start the questions and answers session.” Renjun’s grin is a little bit excited, a little predatory. It has been long since he feels this kind of thrill.

“You mean the interrogation session?” Jaehyun’s smile doesn’t change, doesn’t give way to any faults in his persona. Renjun chuckles humorlessly.

“Of course not, unless you’re saying you’re involved, Mr. Jung?” Cue Jaehyun’s turn to laugh. He laughs. This is just a play, a game. Renjun is afraid to know who the director is.

* * *

Jaemin and Hyuck have been up for hours. They spent the entire night and morning going through Jeno’s journal and matching it with his email’s log and phone’s log. So far, nothing has been out of order. Well, until they reach Jeno’s emails in the past week before he is murdered. Hyuck was reading how Jeno is supposed to go to Jeju for work purposes. His stay is supposed to last for four days and three nights. There’s an email of his flight tickets that match with his schedule. Hyuck even calls the hotel that hosted Jeno, only for them to say that he was indeed staying there for three nights.

“Donghyuck,” Jaemin’s voice cuts his train of thoughts. “Does Jaehyun know Doyoung?” Donghyuck whips his head so fast, he fears his neck will fall off.

“Not that I know of, why?”

“Doyoung has been exchanging emails with this one unnamed email address in the past few weeks leading to Jeno’s death. The emails are nonsensical. Literally.” Hyuck moves to Jaemin’s side to read the content of the email he was reading.

“It’s a skip code.” Donghyuck takes the mouse from Jaemin’s hand, easily scanning the email and gets the gist of the interaction. “What do you mean with Jung Jaehyun?” Hyuck asks as he reads.

“I traced the IP address. It leads to Jaehyun’s penthouse.” Hyuck looks back at the man.

“You can hack emails?!” Jaemin just shrugs.

“I told you I can do things faster than you guys. Emails are easy, you should see me breaking into Lee House Co. firewall.” there’s a smug tone to his voice that Hyuck really wants to silence.

“And what did you do after breaking into your ex’s company’s firewall?” Hyuck asks, amused. 

Jaemin grins delightedly at the question. “Oh well, let’s say Jeno’s husband was forever banned from leading an important meeting with important investors.” Hyuck just shakes his head.

“Na Jaemin, you are one petty man.” the younger shrugs as he looks back at his laptop.

“What can I say? I gotta get my revenge. That’s the love of my life that he’s stolen. Fucking Jung Jaehyun, that bitch.”

“Whoa, I thought Jeno ended up with Mark Lee?” Jaemin gives him a stink eye.

“And whose suggestion? Donghyuck, for a detective you really know nothing about Jung Jaehyun, do you? Jaehyun was the company’s consultant. He’s the one who convinced Jeno that marrying Mark Lee, the son of another big businessman would be better than marrying the son of the governor. Less politics, more profit to the company.” Hyuck deadpans at that.

“Wait. I thought Jeno loved  _ you _ ?!” Jaemin just rolls his eyes.

“He did, but growing the company was his father’s number one deathbed wish. I guess he wanted to prove himself to his parents or Doyoung, I don’t know.” Jaemin shrugs. There’s another weight added to his shoulders. Hyuck once again feels like he can’t do anything, and he hates it.

* * *

“Mr. Jung, from the data that we’ve gathered, you sent Lee Jeno to a company trip in Jeju for four days and three nights. Why?” Renjun feels the frustration that keeps creeping into his soul. He has been trying to coax out answers with subtle questions, but nothing gets released from Jaehyun’s perfect wall. Twenty minutes later, Renjun is still as blank as the first second he stepped a foot in the room. He prays for his phone’s battery to last as he keeps his voice recorder on.

“Well, you see, I want to buy a building here, but it was snatched by a news company. I need to, you know, make some negotiation to convince the man to sell the building to me. Meanwhile, we got big investors in Jeju, so I told Jeno that he needs to attend to the investors, while I handle the new building.”

Renjun steps down on his urge to smile in victory. First mistake— _ I want a building.  _ “Mr. Jung, before stepping in as the CEO substitutes,” Renjun takes glee in the very low shimmer of anger in Jaehyun’s eyes at the word substitute.  _ Weakness.  _ “You were the Lee House Co.’s business consultant, correct?” Jaehyun nods and all of the sudden slips he had let out are gone after a heartbeat. However, Renjun saw. The perfect, beautiful wall was not impenetrable. Renjun has his weapon.

* * *

“So you mean to tell me that Jung Jaehyun wants to buy the warehouse near the lake? The warehouse that Doyoung had bought to expand his news company, and Doyoung agreed because he was promised a share in the company.” Hyuck strings together everything he gets from the emails.

“Not surprising, as his news company would be absolutely saved from any impending doom in the near future if he were able to collaborate with the Lee House Co.” Jaemin sounds unimpressed before letting out more expletives at his desktop. “Oh shit.”

“Indeed. Fuck, he’s involved and yet not involved at the same time.  _ God, _ hyung why won’t you just ask Jeno, he’s your brother for fuck’s sake. It’s not like he’d deny his brother’s request, right?”

“No, Donghyuck, I said it because there’s more. He is involved, period. He sent Jeno a voice message, right before Jeno’s return flight had landed.”

_ Hey, Jen! Can we meet at the warehouse near Hyde Park instead? I still have things to finish here, sorry to change our schedule last minute. Love you! _

“ _ Shit!”  _ Donghyuck runs to his car as quick as he could, expecting Jaemin to follow him. “The warehouse is the crime scene, come on Jaemin!” Once Jaemin is seated with a seatbelt, he zooms through the street, desperately trying to find some evidence before Renjun’s time with the suspects are up. He tosses Jaemin his phone. “Call Taeil and put him on speaker.” Jaemin does what he’s told.

“Hyuck?”

“Hyung! Please send me a forensic team to the warehouse near Hyde Park, the one that’s gonna be used for the news company,  _ now _ . I got a lead on Lee Jeno’s case. We might be able to solve it today.”

“Alright, roger that. Good job, kid.” Taeil says through the speaker before ending the call.

“So when do you think I can join the police department?” Jaemin says with his shit-eating grin. Hyuck laughs genuinely. The first in the past few days.

“With your petty ass? Keep dreaming.”

* * *

“So, Mr. Huang, how much longer do you think we have to play this game of pretense?” Renjun freezes. He fails at convincing the lion, perhaps he has failed from the start. The predatory grins on Jaehyun’s face widens.

“A few more minutes, if I’m good at what I’m playing.” Renjun says collectively.

“Oh, don’t worry you’re good. However, if you decided to ask my secretary first before you asked me, I’m sure you’ll have all of your answers by now.” Jaehyun’s stance is open—too vulnerable for people who sit in front of their enemy. Perhaps Renjun was never seen as his enemy right from the start. Too inadequate even to pose a risk to someone as powerful as Jung Jaehyun.

“My bad, then.” There’s an unknown type of fear that envelopes Renjun being as the clock keeps ticking. They have been talking for almost an hour, and yet Renjun still can’t make the man elicit anything. Nothing too important for the case at the very least.

“Oh no, my bad, actually. I’m not sure you have enough minutes to see where this game is heading. My secretary might have been clumsy enough to slip something in your drink. You might start feeling the effect in a few minutes.”

“Neuromuscular Blocking Agents. I found traces of the substance in Jeno’s body.” Jaehyun laughs genuinely at that.

“Oh, you’re good. Unfortunately, knowing won’t save you.” Jaehyun’s voice drops into a poisonous tone. Jaehyun is still talking, however his voice keeps going further. Renjun feels like he’s being dunked into a pool, forced to listen to Jaehyun’s cold sweet voice. He could feel himself leaning too dangerously to the side. He’s probably going to fall off his chair, profusely hoping that the concussion won’t be too bad later on. It’s a familiar scene in Renjun’s head when he hears Jaehyun’s voice become closer, clearer.

_ “You knew too much, didn’t you?” _

_ “Night night, Huang Renjun.” _

Renjun doesn’t know what kind of excuse Jaehyun would say to the forensic team leader about his whereabouts, but his brain feels too mushy to even think. He wishes he had sent something to notify Donghyuck. Renjun would be the worst person ever if he set Donghyuck on panic mode just to find Renjun’s dead body somewhere in the next few days. He almost wants to smile at the thought that Donghyuck would just probably revive him from death to kill him again—Renjun kinda wishes that would happen instead of dying in this vile creature’s hands. The next thing he knew, the world is embraced by darkness.


	9. The Downfall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW// suicide, death, blood

Hyuck drives around the perimeter of the park, until Jaemin points at the old, green warehouse almost at the end of the street. Hyuck steps on the gas of his car before swerving right in front of the warhouse, preventing everyone with vehicles from passing the street. He didn’t bring the police line with him, so he makes do with what he has. Jaemin hops off from the car first and is in the middle of picking the warehouse lock to let them in once Hyuck reaches the front door.

“Why am I not surprised that you can pick locks too?” Hyuck says sarcastically while Jaemin just chuckles.

“The perks of living with strict parents, you know?” Jaemin answers as the lock gives away a click before falling to the ground with a thump. Hyuck, being the one who is already standing, steps forward to open the old door of the warehouse and gets inside. Donghyuck’s breath gets knocked off his chest once he takes a look inside the warehouse. The subtle stench of blood infiltrates his olfactory senses, almost making his eyes water. Donghyuck  _ hates _ the strong stench of crime scenes, be it blood, oil, car fuel—it reminded him too much of his mother's death. However, the smell of blood is not the only thing that stops him. Donghyuck stares at the man in front of him.

"Doyoung," the words come out airy and without his permission. Jaemin makes a non-committal sound behind him. There's a soft sound of his feet on the cemented floor.

"Yeah man, I thought he would have furnished this building. It doesn't look like anyone has tried to renovate anything." From his voice, Hyuck knows Jaemin is still wandering around. Afraid of what he might find next, Hyuck tries to delay the inevitable.

"Jaemin, close your eyes." Donghyuck says sternly, leaving no space for argument. His eyes are still not moving from the guy in front of him. The guy with the most apologetic eyes Hyuck has ever since. He doesn't know how he hasn't fallen down sobbing on the floor until now, perhaps his emotion training really was successful.

"Why?" Jaemin being Jaemin obeys no one, obviously. Hyuck has no time for this.

"Jaemin, close your eyes,  _ now. _ "

There's no response coming from the other, and Jaemin might just stay silent to spite Donghyuck, but Hyuck knows that in his line of work there's no such time to hope for wishful things like that. Hyuck is too late. Jaemin already knows.

“H-how do you know?” There’s a crack in Jaemin’s voice. Hyuck hopes Jaemin won't break down in the middle of a crime scene. “Donghyuck, he’s behind you, how the fuck do you know?” Okay, aggression is better than fear, panic, or shock. 

“I can see human spirit. He’s in front of me right now.” Hyuck tries to answer calmly. He doesn’t care if Jaemin believes his confession or not. He is not sure he cares about anything else besides the spirit in front of him. "Hi, Hyung.” Hyuck finally addresses Doyoung. There’s more anger underlying his voice instead of sorrow, but the grief is heard loud and clear by everyone present at the moment.

“You’re mad.” Doyoung states.

“No shit. Why did you do this?”

“You knew why, Hyuckie—"

"Don't Hyuckie me." he cuts the older sternly.

"You knew I was involved, Taeyong told me your speculation. Taeyong told me everything." There's a sad smile on Doyoung's face which only anger him more. Doyoung has no right to feel sad right now. "You are a good detective, Donghyuck, don't ever doubt that”

"Stop placating me!” Hyuck finally snaps. “Do you admit it then? Is that why you did this? Are you that much of a coward to face your consequences as a murderer?” He knows how harsh he's being without Doyoung having to flinch at his words, but he doesn't really care at the moment. His heart is aching too much to care. He wants to hurt the man in front of him just as much.

“No, it’s—  _ Hyuck _ , it’s not like that—”

“Then what, Hyung?! What could possibly justify this?!” he throws his hand to whatever direction at the back of his head. He doesn’t want to— _ isn’t ready _ to witness the actual scene that's happening behind him.

“I’m sorry…  _ I’m so sorry… _ ”

“Stop apologizing!  _ Why— _ ” he tries to speak through the lump in his throat, swallowing the palpable crack in his voice, “Why do you leave us like this— _ why would you leave Taeyong like this? _ ” there are tears on his cheeks, Hyuck is certain of it. He can accept people leaving him, but not Taeyong— _ never _ Taeyong. His cousin doesn't deserve the permanent loneliness that has lodged itself deep inside Hyuck's heart. His heart breaks at the prospect of telling Taeyong. His heart breaks, period. Taeyong is not the only one who loves Doyoung, Hyuck has loved him too—immensely, just like another brother he never had. Despite all of his accusations, Hyuck still loves Doyoung. 

_ God,  _ he must look like a madman to Jaemin.

“I didn’t know.” Doyoung finally says. “I didn’t know what Jaehyun would do here."  _ Jaehyun.  _ It really was Jung Jaehyun. There's an unknown distant fear that creeps into Hyuck's heart, something he chooses to ignore for now. "I didn’t know he’d murder my own brother in my soon to be office. I agreed to it, I agreed to the deal, Hyuckie. I helped kill my own brother, and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I’m not strong enough to live with it.” Hyuck can feel the sincerity, the genuine desperation that Doyoung is exuding. It’s a very palpable emotion. “I’m so  _ sorry _ , you guys deserve better than me.” Hyuck can feel his chest constricting, his heart clenching oh so painfully. He hates the fact that he can’t say anything to comfort Doyoung’s sobbing spirit. He hates the fact that he currently feels like the world is caging him in. He hates the fact that he had lost control of his own emotion—such a hypocrite for wishing Jaemin to stay intact, when right now he's the one who couldn’t breathe properly inside a crime scene. He can feel his knees buckling down and hitting the ground painfully. He can feel the way he’s curling into himself, trying to catch a small puff of air to relieve his lungs. It feels like forever before Hyuck registers the distant feeling of being embraced by someone. A familiar distant voice infiltrates his eardrums.

“Hyuck, breathe. I’m here.” The voice is both familiar and stern.  _ Johnny.  _ Hyuck’s heart drops in relief. Johnny’s here. He can help Hyuck to regain his breathing. “Hyuckie, I’m here. I'll always be here, remember? Please, breathe for me.” And Hyuck tries. He really tries, but it’s not working and he has started to feel lightheaded. Until the second pair of hands encircle his middle, trying to straighten his posture.

“Donghyuck, do you hear me?”  _ Taeil.  _ Donghyuck nods. “Alright, kiddo, you’ve broken dozens of rules in the past 24 hours, but right now you’re scaring your friend. I need you to breath in and out according to my count, okay? Can you do that?” It takes a few seconds to register in Donghyuck’s brain, but he nods eventually.

“Okay good. Now inhale, one, two, three—”

“I  _ can’t.  _ Hyung—”

“No, it’s okay. We’ll try again. Inhale, one, two. Exhale, one, two. Good, again.”

“You’re doing very well, Hyuckie. Again, breathe for us.” Hyuck can feel Johnny’s big hand rubbing his back in a soothing manner. It helps. They help. And the cycle repeats.

It takes a few minutes for Hyuck to regain his breathing pattern again, but once he can, he looks up at the two in front of him. There are wet streaks of tears on his cheeks and he’s so fucking exhausted, but he’s thankful.

“Thank you, Hyung.” he tries to smile. Johnny and Taeil’s relief is palpable through their gaze.

Johnny leans forward and hugs Hyuck from his side, “Don’t scare me like that, ever again.” And Taeil points at Jaemin with his chin. “Go apologize to your friend or something. We’ll discuss your detention for bringing civilians into a confidential case later.” Hyuck just smiles and nods before standing up and moving towards Jaemin. Doyoung will be Johnny’s responsibility, while the place will be taken care of by the forensic team Taeil brought with him. Hyuck breathes in relief.

“You okay?” Hyuck decides to ask Jaemin first. The younger shrugs. His body is as tense as it can get.

“I’ll cope. You?”

“As okay as I’ll ever be.” Donghyuck says as he finally looks up. There hanging from the low ceiling was a rope—and then Doyoung.  _ Dead _ .  _ An empty shell of a man. _ There is a pair of hands that covers his eyes, once again reminding him of  _ that  _ night. The hands release him once he’s face to face with Doyoung—spirit Doyoung.

“Remember me this way.” Donghyuck witnesses the way Doyoung's lips slowly move to showcase his gummy smile, as wide and as genuine as he could give. The brother that Hyuck loves. The sunshine of Taeyong’s life. Hyuck wipes his wet cheeks once again before leaping into Doyoung’s embrace. “I love you. I love Taeyong, too, so much. I love all of you as much as I love Jeno. I’m so sorry that it’s not enough.”

“I forgive you. Jeno will forgive you too. You didn’t know what’s gonna happen, his death is not 100% your fault.” Hyuck ends up crying again on Doyoung’s chest.

“Thank you. Take care of yourself and Taeyong for me. Goodbye, Lee Donghyuck.”

“No, see you in your next life, Hyung.” Doyoung grin doesn’t waver until he vanishes from sight, leaving Johnny alone. Hyuck looks at him questioningly.

“You’ll probably meet him again in this life.” Johnny grins. “With his kind of mistakes, the redemption usually comes in the form of social work, which means being a Grim Reaper for some amount of time.” Donghyuck narrows his eyes at that.

“What kind of mistakes have you made in your life to be the Head of Grim Reaper then?” Hyuck asks innocently, Johnny just ruffles Hyuck’s hair.

“That’s a story for another time. See you at Lee House Co., Hyuckie!” and with that Johnny also vanishes into thin air, leaving a baffled Hyuck behind.

_ See you at Lee House Co. _

_ See you _ —

— _ at Lee House Co.? _

The same coldness that seized Hyuck’s insides before comes back. 

_ Renjun. _

Hyuck immediately opens his phone to call the other, but everything goes to voicemail.  _ God,  _ Hyuck wants to pull his hair out.

“What now?” Jaemin’s panicked voice gets his attention.

“Okay, I’m sorry for involving you in this. Don’t panic, but I need you to track Renjun’s phone. Can you do that?” Jaemin sags in relief at that.

“Yeah, I can’t talk to ghosts or Grim Reaper, but that I can definitely do.” Jaemin immediately opens his phone with ease and starts working. Upon closer inspection, Hyuck realizes that Jaemin is not scared because of their current situation. He’s just overwhelmed because he can’t really do anything to help him overcome his shock. Jaemin is the type of person that channels his overwhelming emotions into doing something useful, and Hyuck leaving him behind with nothing to do while he’s talking to human spirits and having a panic attack don’t really help.

“I’m sorry, by the way, for leaving you to fend for yourself like that.” Donghyuck says as Jaemin is busy doing shits he doesn’t understand on his phone.

“No worries, just give me something to work on next time. Alright, Renjun is still in Lee House Co.”

“Shit,” Donghyuck curses at that, feet dashing straight to his car.

“Why? Is he in danger?” Jaemin shouts from behind him. He gets into the car at the same time with Donghyuck.

“Seatbelts on.” Donghyuck grits through his teeth before once again stepping on the gas and speeding to the other side of the city. Lee House Co. is written in bold on his GPS. “Johnny, the Grim Reaper, implicitly told me that he has a schedule at the company.”

“Schedule?”

“Picking up human spirit kind of schedule, Jaem, keep up with me. And for all I know, it could be anyone, including Renjun.”

“Can we do anything if it’s really him?” Donghyuck stays silent at Jaemin’s question. He knows there’s nothing he can really do to prevent Renjun’s death if it’s really scheduled for tonight. However, he promises that he’s gonna try his damn hardest to prevent it, even if it’s the last thing he does. He has lost one too many for this damn case, he won’t let life take Renjun too.

* * *

Renjun wakes up to the feelings of water hitting his face. He struggles to open his eyes, only to be met with the cloudy sky and a few lightning here and there. It is raining a lot, and he tries to not let the raindrops get into his eyes. Only once he regains the feeling of his own body, he dares to look around. Every single muscle on his body seizes up when he realizes that he’s dangling on the edge of the Lee House Co. rooftop, completely at the mercy of Jung Jaehyun. The only thing that keeps him from meeting his end on the asphalt below is Jaehyun’s tight grip on his shirt.

“I’m surprised you’re keeping me alive.” Renjun smirks. Good gracious, he really wants to slap himself. Jaehyun just chuckles.

“Don’t worry, you’ll meet your end, eventually. Perhaps you’ll finally meet Jeno. Mind if I ask you to send my wishes to him.”

“Fuck you.” Renjun grits through his teeth. Renjun sees the way Jaehyun’s lips curl into a predatory grin.

“You wish,” Rejun’s insides are coiling in disgust at Jaehyun’s words. “Now tell me, Mr. Huang. How do you know it was me?”

“It was you who did what? It was you who killed Lee Jeno?” Renjun taunts further. It’s a dangerous game—one that Renjun is not ready to lose.

“Don’t test me. My hand is getting more slippery as we speak.”

“Oh, but wouldn’t you be so curious, Mr. Jung? How could I know that you’re the murderer? Are you the murderer?” Renjun grins, facing the rainy sky once again before shooting a sharp gaze to the trembling man behind the CEO. “Oh, but it was not just you, wasn’t it? Am I right,  _ Mr. Lee _ ?”

“How do you  _ know? _ ” Jaehyun seethes. Renjun laughs in satisfaction as he has managed to push Jaehyun’s button.

“I know a lot of things, Mr. Jung, Mr. Lee.” Renjun proceeds to say his next sentence very slowly and clearly. “No one told me it will come down to this, please don’t do this… Sounds familiar?” Renjun smirks. He’s toying with life, but perhaps Jeno is worth his life. The panic that spreads on Mark’s face is so satisfying to watch. The anger in Jaehyun’s face only fuels his adrenaline. “Or this one might sound more catchy? Night night, Lee Jeno.”

* * *

Donghyuck messily parks in front of the tall as fuck building and runs out of his car under the rain. Jaemin had agreed to stay alert in the car, ready to go whenever Donghyuck comes out with Renjun in tow. Hyuck runs inside, ignoring the yell that comes from the receptionist table. He gets into the elevator and pushes one of the floor buttons randomly, knowing that half of the forensic team is still here, and he can just ask Renjun's whereabout to one of them. He finds the entire team sweeping evidence on the 7th floor.

“Yo, do any of you know where Renjun is?” Hyuck asks without even getting out of the elevator.

“Boss room, highest floor!” Hyuck grins at the one who answers, he thinks his name is Lucas, before punching on the 15 floor button. Hyuck can’t help himself from tapping his shoes on the floor as he waits for the  _ ding _ sound that indicates he has arrived. He wants to puke.  _ God,  _ please let him be on time.

It’s empty. The entire floor is  _ empty _ —completely deserted of people.

Now Donghyuck really wants to vomit his guts out and eat them back. His heart is pounding inside the cavity of his chest, as he takes another quick sweep of the floor for any suspicious activity. He finds nothing, not even a slight movement. Hyuck almost gets out of the room in order to find Renjun on the other floor, when he feels something cold wraps around his wrist.  _ Fingers.  _ Hyuck’s other hand instinctively goes to the gun strap on his waist, while he looks at the person holding him—except it is not a person, well, not fully that is.

_ A spirit. _

_ Jeno’s spirit. _

“Jeno?!”

“Yeah, uh, hi. I finally managed to be corporeal, not for too long, though, so we gotta be quick.” He can feel Jeno pulls at his wrist. For someone who is lacking the energy to be tangible, his grip is awfully strong.

“You still have another month to keep being tangible for a few hours, don’t worry.” Hyuck manages to say as Jeno pulls him to the emergency door at the other side of the room.

“Yeah, I might just don’t care anymore if they succeed tonight. You have to save Renjun, Donghyuck.”

“That’s the goal, let’s see if I’m capable enough, though.”

“Donghyuck, you’ve saved  _ me,  _ an invisible spirit. That’s like a big deal, dude. Trust yourself, I believe you can save your partner.” They have run two sets of stairs when Jeno finally lets go of Hyuck's wrist. "I can't anymore, this is my limit. Renjun's on the rooftop." Hyuck nods, determined.

"Promise me, you'll try to get your chance in second life. You deserve better than all of this shit show."

Jeno grins at Hyuck's words, his eyes turning into two beautiful crescents. Donghyuck thinks Jeno looks free at that moment. "I now know I have at least 3 people who care a lot about me. I'll try. Promise me, you'll save Injun. I can't let him die because of my murder case. And like, I don't know, I guess please help me tell them that I love them as much as they love me."

"Trust me, they know." Jeno nods before vanishing into thin air, smile still beautifully intact. Donghyuck runs his last set of stairs before slowly trying to catch what could be happening on the other side of the door.

* * *

"I started to think that my decision to keep you alive is a wrong move." Jaehyun smiles poisonously. Renjun just rolls his eyes.

"Should've thought that from the start. Now you're stuck with a smartass like me. Oh, poor you. Isn't your hand getting tired of holding me up, Mr. Jung?" Renjun dares himself to touch as far as his arms can reach and  _ feel _ Jaehyun's arm. "Ooh, muscular." Renjun's tone is dripping with acid even though his face is as lovely as a flirty bartender.

That snaps something in Jaehyun. Renjun is suddenly yanked to the CEO’s chest, his face is as murderous as one person can get. Renjun holds his urge to puke on their proximity; he feels like he can taste Jaehyun's breath which is just disgusting. He had learnt to count his blessings in small victories, though. This is one of those. He manages to crack Jung Jaehyun's facade. 

"Get your filthy hands away from me or I'll do you worse than how I did Jeno, you scumbag." Jaehyun growls which pulls a startle laugh out of Renjun, apparently this is his luckiest day. Good things come to those who wait. Renjun has been so patient the entire day and now he can laugh straight at Jaehyun's face.

Right at that moment, the door of the rooftop is slammed open harshly and Donghyuck steps into the rain. Renjun's eyes widen at both Hyuck's sudden appearance and Jaehyun's arm sudden movement. He is thrusted back to the edge of the building, feet dangling over nothing but the asphalt 15 floors below.

"Do you know that famous saying, Mr. Jung, how curiosity kills the cat?" Donghyuck's lip curls to enunciate each syllable with profound delight. His eyes twinkle even under the gloomy weather. Renjun feels like witnessing Lee Donghyuck for the first time again. There's something about the rain that heightens Donghyuck's presence immensely—it feels as if the city is proudly blessing the guy. Renjun's lizard brain, in the most inappropriate situation and way, somehow thinks that Donghyuck looks beautiful like this—immersed in his element and all. There's a loaded gun trained at Jaehyun's face. Renjun doesn't know how good Hyuck is at shooting at close to medium range, but he hopes the rain won't meddle with his skill. Donghyuck grins cockily, eyes never leaving Jaehyun's face. "You're not as smart as I give you credit for, Mr. Jung, I'm disappointed. Your first wrong move is to talk with him."

"You have a lot of guts talking shit when your partner is seconds away from facing their death." Jaehyun says.

Hyuck laughs humorlessly, "Your second mistake is keeping him alive." Renjun glares at Donghyuck while the younger still pierces Jaehyun with his gaze. "Huang, you got everything you need?"

Renjun grins, "Absolutely."

"Jung Jaehyun, you are under arrest for the offence of a first degree murder against Lee Jeno on October 16th 2016 in the warehouse near Hyde Park that is owned by Kim Doyoung and Lee House Co. Lee "Mark" Minhyung, you are under arrest for aiding Jung Jaehyun in his plan of murdering the victim and also for dumping the victim at the lake in Hyde Park. You both have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court yada yada yada—let's save the formality for later. Now step away from the edge of the building or I'll pull the trigger." There's a real threat in Hyuck's voice, which makes even Renjun shivers.

“Between that bullet and your partner’s head meeting the asphalt, which one do you think would come first?” There’s a malicious grin on Jaehyun’s face which only means danger. Renjun can feel the hold on his shirt loosen up. He can feel himself slipping from the tight fingers that had been holding him up for the past—Renjun doesn’t even know how long they’ve been here, honestly. He also still couldn’t figure out the reason why Jaehyun hasn’t saved them all the time and killed him. At this point, he doesn’t know anything anymore besides that Hyuck couldn’t let him meet his end before retrieving the Jaehyun’s recorded self confession on the phone in his pocket. His body is cold and numb after being drenched under pouring rain for so long. It’s a stalemate.

A sudden yell from Mark, who has been keeping his silence from the start, startles all of them. Renjun almost forgot about his presence. The man suddenly falls to his knees in a cry for mercy as both of his hands try to cover his ears and both of his eyes shine bright with profound fear. There’s a stream of  _ I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, please _ that Mark keeps chanting, which Renjun can’t really hear clearly because of the rain, but it’s obvious how terrified Mark is with the voice that no one else can hear but him. Renjun neither sees nor heard anything that might elicit such a dramatic reaction, but there’s pity in Hyuck’s eyes when he witnesses the scene. Renjun feels more than sees himself being thrown to the side by Jaehyun. His right shoulder collides with the cemented floor of the rooftop harshly—Renjun can hear a small crack which he chooses to ignore for the time being. Donghyuck is immediately at his side—one hand still trained a gun at Jaehyun’s retreating form, eyes not moving from his target, but his hand that helps Renjun to stand up is as gentle as a person helping a wounded animal.

“Are you okay?” Hyuck’s voice is tinged with concern. 

Rejun nods firmly. “I’ll be fine.” He then takes the phone in his pocket, slipping it into Hyuck’s jacket pocket. “I recorded everything he said, including the implied confession.” Hyuck smiles at that—there’s a hint of pride in Hyuck’s eyes that Renjun learns later was directed at him. 

The scene that unravels in front of them is by no means a pretty sight. Jaehyun is trying to be at the same height with Mark’s crouching form. There’s something unfamiliar that shines in Jaehyun’s eyes at that moment— _ concern _ —Hyuck realizes that a second too late. There’s a subtle concern that manages to soften the sharp edges of the CEO, there’s an unseen gentleness in the way Jaehyun’s fingers try to reach for Mark’s face, there’s a slight ache that is reflected on his face when Mark flinches away from his touch.

“Jaehyun cares for Mark,” Renjun voices the foreign idea that has been running on Hyuck’s mind. It’s a little bit unbelievable.

“I can’t believe he went from threatening to kill the man to caring for him. Jung Jaehyun, such an enigma.” Hyuck says softly, voice almost drowns by Mark’s cry for mercy.

“Mark, calm down!” Jaehyun shouts to catch the attention of a hyperventilating Mark. Mark’s not listening, though. His face is filled with what Renjun can only describe as terror.

“Jeno, _please,_ please stop! I’m sorry! _I’m so sorry, please…”_ Mark keeps hysterically chanting—yelling to an invisible entity. “Jaehyun, _please,_ please make _him_ stop!” Hyuck can see the growing panic and the feeling of uselessness in Jaehyun’s eyes. A familiar sight.

“Mark, please, he’s dead. It’s not real.” Jaehyun says sternly after trapping Mark’s body with his arms, trying to shake some sense into the younger. There’s hurt that flashes so clearly on Jaehyun’s face when Mark pushes him back with all his might and starts walking backwards—away from Jaehyun.

“Because of us! He’s dead because of  _ me,  _ Jaehyun!  _ I can’t,  _ I _ can’t  _ do this anymore! I can’t pretend as if everything is alright and go  _ canoodling _ with you—or whatever—to forget about my  _ fucking husband _ that I killed, that  _ you _ killed!” Mark finally yells everything off his chest. 

“Hyuck, you probably should ask Jeno to stop.” Renjun says softly. There’s a prominent fear in his voice. “Before Mark really goes bonkers in the head.”

Hyuck shakes his head in pity. “It hasn’t been Jeno for the last five minutes. He just showed himself to Mark, said some not so nice sentences, and disappeared. I think Mark brought himself to insanity.”

The next few things happen in a blink of an eye, in fact it happened all so simultaneously, no man could logically stop anything from happening. There’s another bang coming from the rooftop’s metal door as it slams to the wall behind it. There’s a second of loud sound coming from a dozen trampling heavy shoes before Taeil steps outside with an entire troop of police officers, all holding a gun trained at Jaehyun and Mark. At the same time, though, no one realizes how Mark hasn’t stopped chanting to himself about how bad of a person he is and how his feet haven’t stopped moving backwards. The next thing Donghyuck witnesses after Taeil’s entrance is how Mark’s left foot catches on his right one, making him trips on himself and stumbles backward.

There’s the late realization in Hyuck’s brain of how Mark is standing too close to the edge. There’s a long suspended second as he tips backward—it’s almost tragically beautiful with the way the rain seems to stop midair for a split second. A warped moment of silence and then he’s lost from everyone’s line of sight.

_ “Between that bullet and your partner’s head meeting the asphalt, which one do you think would come first?” _

Hyuck knows the answer now. The cracking sound of bone meeting asphalt echoes so loud all throughout the street not even two seconds later. And then the scream starts, and the ambulance arrives even before the tenth second finishes. Perhaps it has finished, perhaps it’s just Hyuck’s grasp of reality that fast forward everything to fit five minutes of traumatizing memory into a ten second time lapse. Once his brain decides to focus back to the unfinished arrest warrant in front of him, the rain has ceased gradually quick once the city has done mourning for another loss of her human. Hyuck witnesses the way the glint in Jaehyun’s eyes grows dull, all the malice seeping out into the gloomy sky. Perhaps the city has lost two of her children today. Jaehyun falls to his knees on the ground, palms covering his face as an agonized scream is drawn out from his throat.

It's a pitiful view as the big villain meets his defeat through a crushed heart. There's a small hand that gently pushes Hyuck's arm down—the one which still tensely pointing a gun at the defeated man. Hyuck looks at Renjun.

"It's finished," Renjun says gently as if reminding him that the battle is over. Hyuck nods as the adrenalin gradually seeps out of his body, leaving him feeling a little lethargic. Renjun squeezes his arm a little bit before leaving his side to put a metal cuff on Jaehyun's wrists as he repeats the Miranda warning like the good officer that he is. Jaehyun is handed over to the other officers without any resistance, and the rest of the troops follow besides Taeil.

"Good job the two of you," Taeil says as he puts his hand on both Renjun and Hyuck's shoulders.

"We could have done better, though." There is a tinge of regret in his voice. "We could have done it with less deaths on our hand."

"Deaths? Plural?" Renjun looks at him in alarm. Hyuck sighs, he forgets there are a lot Renjun needs to catch up on.

"Doyoung committed suicide on the warehouse which was used to kill Jeno.  _ His  _ warehouse." Renjun looks at him contemplatively. There's something that looks akinly to both wonder and resentment in his eyes.

"So you really got the evidence for his involvement, huh?" Renjun mutters almost to himself. "You're one hell of a force to be reckoned with, Lee Donghyuck." Donghyuck looks down from Renjun as he can feel the heat creeping on his cheeks— _ God, _ he wants to bury himself underground.

He doesn't need validation for his detective skill. He definitely doesn't need  _ Renjun's _ validation for his detective skill.

"Well, I hope you two know that those deaths aren't on your hand. You've tried your best, and this is basically your first case which is a success! It needs to be celebrated instead of mourned." Taeil claps his hands once, oddly joyful. There's a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Besides, we got ourselves a new recruit, and I'm putting you three on a team from now on."

Renjun looks baffled, "What have you been doing without me?" Hyuck grins as Jaemin comes through the door with another slam, sweat on his eyebrows and panting like he has run a marathon.

"Who the fuck decided to turn the elevator offline when the boss is arrested?! I had to run up 15 flights of stairs!" he shouts dramatically. What an entrance.

"Well, Huang, Jaemin here has proven himself to be a really good hacker in your absence. Besides, Taeil hyung is right, we all need to celebrate." Hyuck's grin turns into a fond smile as he looks down the street. There is still blood splattered across the sidewalk and probably other things that Hyuck's brain refuses to process. However, Hyuck's eyes catch the familiar tall figure in a long black coat—eyes now warm and filled with fondness as he winks at Hyuck from across the street. There are two figures on each of his sides, one with a jawline and high cheekbones that can cut through paper is on his left—a hidden jagged cut on his neck. His famous eye smile is showcased as he waves at Hyuck's distant figure—just as sweet as Jaemin and Renjun had told him. And then on his right, a smaller man with remorseful smile, but more content eyes than what Hyuck had seen half an hour ago. Mark had made peace with his mistake, Jeno had found the courage he needed to pass through, and that really is all Hyuck can ever ask. Hyuck smiles at Johnny as he bids his salute.

"Yeah, it's time for celebration." Hyuck mutters to himself as his heart grows twice in size at the outcome of this case. Sure, there are still things he would need to face after— Taeyong's heartbreak, Doyoung's funeral, Jaehyun's prosecution in court, and so on and so forth. But for now, he will let himself be happy for the things he has achieved. As Renjun's hand once again finds his arm to pull him from the edge of the building—another reminder that it was over—Hyuck lets himself be pulled away from the scene completely. It's an end of something that should've felt regretful turned into something heartwarming. It's the end of another chapter in his life. There's something blooming in his chest as Renjun keeps leading him towards the exit of the building—it almost tastes like hope. Perhaps the city agrees with him as he can feel the warmth of the sun before he even steps a foot outside. Perhaps the city is, too, ready for a new beginning—a new adventure. The familiar odd pulling in his stomach matches the strength of the one on his hand. Perhaps they are indeed bigger than anything.

Renjun's hand that's still on his arm reminds him that the new chapter will begin. 

Hyuck lets himself be pulled. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So to end this year with a bang, I present you my late late submission to 00ff! This Renhyuck is very dear to my heart because it challenge me in so many ways, please be kind about it or else im gonna cry TT
> 
> I want to thank, first of all, Jess, my lovely lovely beta for being here for me while I wrote this despite me being late to everything. Thank you for always encouraging me. Second, as usual, I'd like to thank Dama, my support system bcs without her I swear none of this would even be published. And also, I want to thank Vic, for always hyping me up everytime I talk about my 00ff despite me dropping out of the fest. Lastly, I want to thank Tea, for being so so lovely and sweet to me until now, and even for allowing me to post this, despite me asking 3 times for extension and still not fulfilling the deadline. I love you all.
> 
> If you've managed to read this far, thank so much 💓
> 
> you can find me on twt @seohyuckie!


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